LAHORE: The baser human instincts political vendetta, victimisation, jealousy and snobbishness would not lead this country to anywhere but only complicate things for the nation, warned Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, here on Thursday.

Addressing the House on the first day of the 10th session of the Punjab Assembly, he said the economy was plunging into a dark valley, with investment down by 52 per cent, stocks tumbling by 200pc and rupee being the worst performing currency in the entire region. These were horrifying realities, he added.

`Arrests [of opposition leaders] will neither arrest the worsening economic conditions, nor help avoid economic meltdown. It is now a matter of weeks, not months, before economic realities catch up. Please have some mercy on the people of Pakistan and improve economy and governance,` he said.

Hamza, who is in NAB custody and attending the session on the production order issued by Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, thanked both the House and the chair for the order: `In its 10-year rule, the PML-N should have enacted legislation to produce held legislatures, but credit goes to the present assembly and the speaker.As Usman Mahmood of the PPP and Law Minister Raja Basharat also eulogised the chair for showing `political sagacity,` Mr Elahi, in turn, said: `The credit goes to the House, the chief minister and the prime minister for helping enact the law that made it possible to bring NAB affectees (Hamza Shahbaz and Salman Rafique) to the House.

After thanking the Speaker, Hamza, however, continued: `The economy is in dire straits. Education budget is cut by 20pc. Textile sector has been thrown out of subsidy regime. Revenue target set at impossible Rs5,555bn up from current Rs3,900bn. How would the PTI face these harsh realities?` Explaining, what he called political witch-hunt, he said that accusations against the Sharifs started with Rs85bn money laundering. It was later brought down to Rs23bn and now, finally, it was reduced to Rs180m.

`I declare here on the floor of the House that even if corruption worth a penny is proved against me, I would not only resign from this august House but quit politics. No one is stopping the PTI government from carrying out accountability, the opposition only wants it to be transparent and evenhanded. Make as many commissions you want to probe corruption and loans, but include the KP metro as well. Why Malamjabba corruptioncase does not merit investigation? Accountability is essential for any nation, but so is its even-handedness, he said.

Raja Basharat stood up to respond to Hamza`s speech and said: `One can only welcome positive political expression by the leader of the opposition, but it does not hide an unfortunate political reality that we talk about maturity, fairness and such positives when in trial and tribulation and forget them as soon as we come out of it. The leader of the opposition currently seems to be in the same phase. But, the PTI is neither victimising nor f avouring anyone. It is between those accused of corruption and the courts.If the accused arefreed by the courts, they are respectable for us. If not, it is their problem.

`As far as the economic woes are concerned, the PML-N should not forget that the man (Ishaq Dar) who was responsible for all this, was helped to flee the country in prime ministerial plane. Shahid Khagan Abbasi [then prime minister] might face sedition charge for helping an absconder to escape. The most essential question that the PML-N must answer is that how a province that had Rs100bn surplus slided into Rs2.6 trillion losses? If this was the kind of economic management done by the PML-N, how could it expect a miracle from others?` the law minister said.