Marriyum urges state institutions to stay within their constitutional limits

Says only person like Imran Khan, who abuses and denigrates institutions, would run away from courts

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb has said deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif was presenting himself before the law and urged all state institutions to operate within the ambit of the Constitution.

Speaking to the media outside the accountability court on Thursday, she said the former premier had pulled the country out of darkness, ushered in an era of prosperity, and given it the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and road infrastructure, checked terrorism in its tracks and given the first ever health and education systems.

Therefore, Nawaz Sharif did not need to run away from accountability and the country, she added.

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The state minister said only a person like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, who she said had been abusing and denigrating state institutions and was a real thief, would run away from the courts and use abusive language against them.

The minister said that Imran Khan could not face the people publicly “because he knew he was a thief.” She said that Nawaz Sharif had said he would himself set a tradition of accountability in the country and by appearing in the courts, he surely had set a unique example.

The ousted prime minister had also said that nobody would be able to avoid accountability and those who were raising a hue and cry would also be taken care of soon, Marriyum said, adding that by appearing before courts, Nawaz Sharif wanted to restore the sanctity of vote and honour of the people, who had elected him prime minister for the third time.

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Referring to the PTI chief’s objection on security being provided to Nawaz Sharif, she said he did not understand the difference between protocol and security. “A person who has fought against terrorism surely needs security while the one like Imran, who has been a part of them and supported them, do not,” she said.

The people of Pakistan were with the Constitution and Nawaz Sharif, who loved them, served them and put the country on the path of sustained development, said the minister.

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Marriyum reiterated that only the elected representatives could serve the masses and bring prosperity to the country and unless the sanctity of the vote of the people was restored, the country could not march ahead.

She said neither the Supreme Court nor JIT and NAB could unearth any corruption against the thrice elected prime minister and after one and a quarter year sent him home on ‘Iqama’ (work permit for UAE).

“Collection of evidence was outsourced to companies in London, but no incriminating evidence could be found from the heaps of material that was collected,” she added.