Charter of economy is a joke: Maryam

PML-N vice president distances herself from Shehbaz's proposal, says her views are personal

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz distanced herself from the charter of economy proposed by her uncle and party president Shehbaz Sharif, saying that she opposed signing an agreement with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which had "stolen the people's mandate" and "ruined the economy".

However, she clarified that her views on the matter were personal and they did not mean that she had any differences with the party president.

"The charter of economy is a Mazaaq-e-Maeeshat [a joke with the economy]," the PML-N leader said at a news conference in Lahore.

She added that she did not agree with letting the government off the hook for pushing the country into an economic meltdown.

"Signing an agreement with someone [Prime Minister Imran Khan] who has left the destroyed the economy and made lives miserable for the people is tantamount to giving him an NRO," she maintained.

"He [the prime minister] has left economy in shambles because of his incompetence and now wants the opposition's endorsement [through the charter of economy] so he can get away with it."

She added that the prime minister should be answerable to the people for his poor performance himself and any opposition party that supported him would be participating in the "crime".

Maryam said the party president was for more experienced than she was and must have taken matters into consideration – which she was unable to grasp -- when he proposed the charter of economy.

However, the PML-N leader added that she had the right to express her opinion as a party member and her conveyed her reservations over the issue to the party president during meetings as well.

She also maintained that her father Nawaz Sharif, the party's supreme leader, had the final say in the matter.

Maryam later took to Twitter to clarify that there were no differences between her and her uncle.

She maintained that there were no differences between her and the party president and "this wish of our opponents will never be fulfilled".

"These are my personal views. Those trying to project it as a dispute will be disappointed," she wrote.

Nawaz's health

During her news conference, Maryam said her father Nawaz Sharif had suffered a third heart attack in Adiala Jail last year and it had been concealed from the family.

She showed a discharge certificate according to which her father had suffered a heart attack in July last year and that the government and jail authorities had displayed negligence.

Recalling the incident, Maryam said when she and her father were in jail last year, she had been asked to convince Nawaz to go to the hospital but he had initially refused because he did not want to leave her alone in jail.

"I was worried and could sense something was wrong but I was not told anything. I was asked to convince my father to go to the hospital and he was reluctant to leave me alone. My father's cardiologist was also called from Lahore to assess the situation," she added.

The PML-N leader said she was not informed what had happened to him except that he had been in CCU for two to three days.

Maryam read out the discharge report from the hospital and asked why her father had not received relief from courts because of his medical condition even though they had all the reports.

"According to the advice of medical professionals, my father is in need of another bypass and if his health deteriorates, all those involved will be held responsible."

Maryam further claimed that meetings with Nawaz were also being monitored. "When I went to meet him there was a man there and when we asked he said he was assigned to overlook the meeting. Even prisoners are supposed to have some rights."

Responding to a question, she claimed a doctor who examined her father had told her that every word of their report was being monitored and the severity of Nawaz's health was deliberately understated in the report because they were "afraid of losing their jobs".

She further said that the six-week reprieve given to Nawaz was only enough to have all his tests conducted and a bypass surgery could not be performed.

"Mian sahib needs to undergo a number of surgeries and all that could not be done in the six weeks he was out of jail," she added.

"This is not Egypt and Nawaz is not Mohammad Morsi," she said adding that Imran Khan stood defeated.

Taking exception to security officers being present during her meeting with Nawaz, Maryam said that the move was in clear violation of basic prisoner rights.

"This clearly shows that Nawaz has won the public's mandate and vindicates our stance against the incumbent government."

In response to a question, she said that her brother would return to Pakistan when justice is dispensed to them.

Commenting on the public debt commission, Maryam maintained that the PTI-led government had tainted the credulity of the body by including members of the National Accountability Bureau, ISI and MI.

"Why would you want to include members of NAB in the commission if it [NAB] is an independent body?"