Maryam Nawaz says being neutral is adherence to the Constitution
ISLAMABAD, Mar 21 (SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif has told Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday that his “game is over now”.
“Your electoral prospects in the wake of inflation and lack of governance are bleak. You know you have lost the game and the upcoming elections.”
Talking to the media persons outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Maryam Nawaz slammed the premier for bad-mouthing the opposition in his speeches. “I have heard his speeches and he sounds like a defeated man in them.”
Maryam Nawaz said that every party goes through “these phases” but none ever used foul language the way Imran Khan did. “You ridicule opponents. You oppose Maulana Fazlur Rehman. You mimic Bilawal.”
And, the PML-N leader went on, the PM looks like a joker while he’s at it. “I urge people not to let their children watch such speeches,” Maryam Nawaz said, stressing that despite facing several injustices Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif never “let go of his moral principles”.
“Four years are sufficient to show the performance of a person. Imran Khan should know that people have shown him the red card.” Referring to the no-confidence motion, she called it karma for the prime minister. “You had called out Nawaz’s politics. Today, the same Nawaz has beaten you by entering your homes while sitting abroad. Now you are the one paying visits to people with one or two seats.”
You refused to visit the Hazaras, Maryam Nawaz told the premier, “and said you won’t get blackmailed”. “You are the victim of your own arrogance, makafat-e-amal, and not any conspiracy.”
Maryam said there is a “wave of neutrality” in the air these days. “We have heard this has upset some people. I didn’t realise a single world would bring down your 22-year struggle.”
The PML-N vice-president claimed that the PTI government and Imran Khan never allowed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to stay neutral.
“You have always conspired. You want someone to complete your numbers, someone to keep you in the game, someone to manage media for you, and someone to manage all the institutions for you.”
In the Senate elections, she pointed out, the PTI did not have enough numbers but despite that it won. “Tell us what did you do back then? Were you involved in horse-trading? If it was legal at that time, why do you have issues now?”
Maryam Nawaz maintained that being neutral is adherence to the Constitution. “It is a good move if someone is calling for following the Constitution.” She added that “only God knows who will be elected as the new prime minister but for PML-N it will be Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.”
She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government is below the level in number game, adding that PM Imran Khan wants someone who can uplift his level in number game. She further said that PM Imran wants someone who can punish opponents.
While criticizing the prime minister, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz also said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been slipped from the hands of PM Imran Khan. She said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has defeated Imran Khan while staying abroad.
In view of the no-confidence motion tabled against the premier, Maryam Nawaz added that delaying the session of the National Assembly was tantamount to “disobeying the Constitution and would invoke Article 6”, adding that she was looking towards the courts in the event of constitutional distortion.
“Imran Khan! Your game is over,” the PML-N leader said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had officially broken up. “The PM is aware that no one will come to his rescue now that he has lost the game,” the PML-N vice president added.
“Imran Khan believes there to be an international conspiracy against him, but he conspires against himself. Had he fulfilled his duty, there would be no reason to mobilise one million people,” she said.
Critiquing the PM’s earlier statement that his main objective of joining politics was not to check the prices of potatoes and tomatoes, Maryam Nawaz said that had the PM Imran kept a tab on prices of wheat, ghee, sugar and petrol, the opposition would not have had to see this day.
Accusing the ruling party of rigging elections, the opposition leader added that “counting of votes was neither complete in 2018, nor was it complete during the elections held in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir as well as the Senate”. The PML-N leader said that the PTI was “slipping away like sand”.
Referring to Imran Khan’s comments that urged dissident PTI lawmakers to return to the ruling party’s fold saying that he was ready to forgive them, Maryam Nawaz accused the premier of buying votes, claiming that he has “fallen victim to the rewards process, his own arrogance and pride”.