Graft cases against Sharif reopened

Piling up pressure on estranged ally Nawaz Sharif, the PPP government yesterday reopened corruption cases against him even as the PML-N chief intensified attacks against the ruling party, accusing it of "breaking promises and ignoring public issues".
The country's controversial anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau, filed an application in a court seeking resumption of a trial against former premier Sharif and his brother Shahbaz on graft charges.
The move by the Bureau, which is under the Law Ministry, to reopen the case came just nine days after Sharif pulled his PML-N party out of the PPP-led ruling coalition.
These cases had been indefinitely adjourned last month by an anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi on technical grounds.
Sharif's lawyer Khwaja Haris was quick to slam the move as politically motivated.
"It appears to be aimed at using the accountability courts against Nawaz Sharif. It appears to be used for political ends," Haris said.
Sharif stuck to his stand on the issue of returning to the coalition that was formed after the February 18 general elections but fell apart due to differences over restoration of judges deposed by former President Pervez Musharraf.
Ruling out any possibility of rejoining the coalition despite requests from the PPP, he said "We have crossed that point and we don't want to enter the ruling coalition again".
Sharif, in an interview to Gulf News published today, also said he would not withdraw the PML-N's presidential candidate, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, who is running against PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari.
Meanwhile, Sharif yesterday sounded a warning, saying that the PPP-led government might collapse much before its tenure if its leaders "continue their policies of breaking promises and ignoring public issues".
Emphasising that his party will not work to destabilise the government and he did want army to meddle in affairs of the state, Sharif whose PML-N broke away from the ruling coalition last week predicted that the government will not "last long", as its leaders were fast losing the trust of people.
"I don't want to make any efforts to destabilise the government, but I am afraid it will not last long due to its current way of governance and the policies of its leadership, which are fast losing the trust of leaders and the people," the PML-N chief said.
The government, which was formed in March, might not complete its five-year tenure if its leaders continued "breaking promises and ignoring public issues", Sharif told Gulf News.