Mr. Ahmed, presently in London for personal reasons and staying at The Churchill Hotel in central London, clarified that he has not met with interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who is also staying at the same hotel. He stated that he was unaware of Mr. Kakar’s presence there.
“I had no meeting with Mr. Kakar,” he told reporters outside the hotel on Sunday. “If these rumors had not been circulating in the media, perhaps I would have. I have good relations with him, but because he is the caretaker prime minister, and if meeting him raises questions about his neutral stance, I will not be meeting him.”
Mr. Ahmed has held several meetings with high-ranking members of the N-league, including party leader Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif. In his most recent meeting, they discussed the Supreme Court’s decision on the NAB law amendments.
“In the previous meeting, it was discussed that the Supreme Court’s decision on the NAB law amendments is not fundamentally against political parties but against Pakistan. Under this NAB law, no civil servant is willing to sign any file, businessmen are hesitant to invest, and there is an atmosphere of harassment. This is a detrimental law, and that has been my stance from the beginning.”
Mr. Khan stated that he had raised the issue in 2017 when Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was prime minister, suggesting that the law be discussed in parliament and terminated. He also made a similar request to Shehbaz Sharif.
“This law has been used under the pretext of accountability to curtail politicians. In contrast, we fully accept accountability when it comes to Imran Khan. But can they prove any cases against us under NAB laws?” he asked, adding that he did not want to engage in a “tit-for-tat.”
Regarding speculations about Shehbaz Sharif’s hasty return, Mr. Ahmed explained, “This Supreme Court decision came during the last days of Shehbaz’s visit here, so he did come back to discuss its implications, if there are any references that can result from this.”
When asked if he agrees with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s assertion that the NAB law is detrimental, Mr. Ahmed concurred, stating, “I am convinced of this; what Asif sahib says is absolutely correct; it is destructive for the country.”