Maryam Nawaz accused a ‘cabal of five’ of being behind the ongoing political & economic crises in Pakistan
SARGODHA , Feb 23 (SABAH): In a scathing attack on Thursday, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), accused a “cabal of five” of being behind the ongoing political and economic crises in Pakistan. The group allegedly includes sitting and former Supreme Court judges and the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, General (retd) Faiz Hameed.
Addressing a workers’ convention in Sargodha, Maryam Nawaz held General (retd) Faiz responsible for leading the group and claimed that their actions had contributed to the country’s problems. She further stated that the “cabal of five” had undermined the democratic process in the country and was responsible for curtailing the freedom of the press and the judiciary.
During her address, Maryam Nawaz also displayed the banner containing images of former Supreme Court chief justices Mian Saqib Nisar, Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, and two sitting apex court judges — Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ijazul Ahsan as well former ISI chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed.
“He [Gen Faiz] appointed himself as the army chief… he wanted to become army chief but Nawaz Sharif could not become his pawn so he picked Imran Khan to fulfill his objectives,” she added.
Maryam Nawaz said General (retd) Faiz told one of the PDM leaders that “Nawaz Sharif needed to be cut to size”.
“When establishment dumped this ‘trash’ [Imran Khan] then these two judges took up the mission to bring him back to the power. They are not judges but remnants of Faiz Hameed.”
Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan was just a frontman of the “cabal of five” as political instability caused by them triggered economic crisis leading to sky rocketing inflation in the country.
She also lashed out at the PTI chief for appointing “Punjab’s biggest dacoit” Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as his party’s central president in Punjab accusing the former PML-Q leader of corruption and being the “henchman of establishment”.
The ruling party leader also urged her uncle, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to not care about the incumbent government which she said is a “leftover” of previous PTI-led government and hold those accountable responsible for destroying the country’s economy.
“I am asking Shehbaz Sharif to not care about this government which is remnant of the previous government and bring them to book for destroying Pakistan,” she remarked.
Speaking about the PTI’s “Jail Bharo Tehreek” (fill prison movement), Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan asking his workers to court arrests while “he himself is hiding in a mouse hole”.
“Leaders lead from the front like Nawaz Sharif… jails for workers and bails for himself,” she remarked. Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan brought the country to the brink of collapse.
She said that the PML-N has jumped in to prepare itself for the elections and also challenged the PTI to win election with the power of masses.
The PML-N senior vice president went on to say that the PTI chairman repeated his mantra that his government was toppled through a conspiracy, but the real conspiracy was hatched against Nawaz Sharif.
The PML-N chief organiser also expressed reservations over some of the judges of the Supreme Court larger bench formed to take up the suo motu notice on delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections, adding that the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has also expressed reservations about these judges.
Earlier, while addressing the convention, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said Imran Khan will not accept results even if the elections are held within 90 days.
“He wants to create instability in the country and will take out long march and refuse election results on the pretext of rigging allegations,” he said. “We will defeat him in the elections whenever the polls are held.”
Rana Sanaullah said only former premier and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019, can lift the country out of crises.
“Mian Nawaz Sharif will return to the country very soon. The country’s woes cannot be resolved without him. He is an experienced leader and will bring the country out of troubles,” he added.
“Establishment’s henchman [former president] Ghulam Ishaq Khan and later General (retd) Pervez Musharraf conspired against Nawaz Sharif when the country was progressing.”
Rana Sanaullah said Nawaz Sharif eliminated terrorism and ended power outages from the country when he came to power in 2013. “But then again Imran Khan was imposed upon the country through a conspiracy. Nawaz is coming as he is the only solution to the country’s woes.”