Delay in sugar inquiry report 'admission of guilt' by PM: Shehbaz Sharif

Delay in sugar inquiry report 'admission of guilt' by PM: Shehbaz Sharif

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mian Shehbaz Sharif has denounced the three-week delay in the release of the final report on the sugar crisis, saying that it is an "admission of guilt" on the part of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"The Cabinet, the Economic Coordination Committee, and all those who granted [the sugar mills] subsidies are responsible for this crisis," he said on Sunday.

"Imran Khan and Sardar Usman Buzdar are behind all the decisions," added Sharif.

He said that the delay in the report's release is "evidence of the Rs100bn robbery committed by the government" and was an attempt to protect the identities of the actual ones responsible for the "sugar theft".

"Concealing the findings of the sugar inquiry report will not hide Imran Khan's crime," said the Muslim League-N president.

Sharif said that the people "know full well who is behind the wheat and sugar shortages" in the country and the truth will not be hidden from them.

The opposition leader said there was "no further need of an inquiry or forensic audit". "The inquiry commission is not fair in its dealings. The [economic coordination] committee members themselves are part of the inquiry committee," he said.

He demanded that PML-N senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and party member Khurram Dastagir be allowed an audience with the inquiry commission.

"If our nominated members are allowed to give a statement, the facts will be separated from fiction," said Sharif.