ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has given the go-ahead to setting up 30 new accountability courts in different parts of the country, an official statement issued on Tuesday said.

The new courts are to be established in all major urban centers, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta.

“The cabinet approved the setting up of 30 additional accountability courts in different cities including Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Quetta,” a statement released after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting said. “The prime minister directed that the process of setting up these courts in the first phase be completed as soon as possible.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan and law minister Barrister Farogh Naseem had last year discussed the idea of setting up 120 accountability courts, but because of financial constraints, it was decided that the courts would be established in a phased manner, starting with 30.

Khan won power in 2018 vowing to root out corruption among what he cast as a venal political elite. While few dispute the need to clean up Pakistani politics, the campaign by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has become a topic of fierce political debate, with many saying its focus is just on the government’s political foes. The government denies targeting political opponents.