Decision As CM Incurred Losses To Family, Not Profits – Shehbaz
Being Reward For Savings Nation’s Billions By Money-laundering Cases – Shehbaz
LAHORE: PMLN President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif has said his family business suffered due the decisions taken by him when he was in government but by the grace of God Almighty he saved billions of taxpayers’ money.
In his statement at the Accountability Court in the money laundering and Ramzan Sugar Mill Shehbaz said, when in government, he always used his powers for national interest and never took any decision to serve personal gains. He said he served the nation in the most transparent manner imaginable for a decade and tried to save even a dime for the country and the province of Punjab.
The PMLN President said he and his brother Nawaz Sharif suffered billions in losses and the businesses of theit next generation also suffered losses instead of profit due to the decisions taken by the PMLN government. He said he can quote many examples of this of the cost so desired. He reminded that Sindh government set the price of Sugarcane at Rs 180 per mound which dropped to Rs 165 and was later set at Rs 160 by Sindh High Court, with Rs 12 as subsidy This he said created an outrage in Punjab and he was put under tremendous pressure by Sugar Mills associations to match the process set by Sindh instead of Rs 180 per mound in Punjab, but he said he did not cave in. Shehbaz said he neither lost the price nor give any subsidy. He said the sugar Mills owned by his family also suffered losses of around Rs 1 billion due to this decisions. His son Salman Shehbaz’s mill took Rs 460 million while those of his nephews lost Rs 420 million, he added. Shehbaz said this was his humble offering to the spirit and principlebof serving national interest of the masses over personal interest.
The National Assembly Opposition Leader said he saved Punjab’s money and served its people way beyond the requirements of his office but he was paid back for all this in the form of a money-laundering case. He questioned if these were his Benami assets would be have incurred billions in losses to them? He pledged in the name of God Almighty that he did not commit any corruption.
Shehbaz appeared before the court along with his daughter. Before the start of the proceedings, Shehbaz apologised to the honourable judge for being late due to hefty traffic.
