Sherry harks back to Nawaz’s 2019 exit

Rejecting the PML-N’s claim that the PPP has made a compromise with the powers that be, a PPP leader has pointed that it is the PPP whose leadership is barred from travelling abroad, implying that removal of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) in 2019 was actually more of a compromise.

“Our leadership is all on the ECL and our former PM cannot go abroad for a medical check-up. Now it’s your job to distinguish between fact and fiction,” PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said on Sunday.

Sherry was apparently responding to the statement of PML-N de facto chief Maryam Nawaz, who on Saturday openly accused the PPP of taking dictation from the establishment for getting its candidate, Yusuf Raza Gilani, selected as the opposition leader in the Senate.

“It is sad that you have massively dented the struggle for democracy, the struggle for the rule of the people for a petty office. But I believe it’ll be much more damaging for you,” Maryam said a day earlier while addressing the PPP.

 “It’s sad that you accepted votes from BAP [a ruling party’s ally] which follows the commands of its baap (godfather),” Maryam said while playing on words. “BAP MPs will sit on opposition benches if ‘baap’ says so, and join the treasury benches if ‘baap’ wishes so.”

Sherry countered the allegations of denting the anti-government alliance – the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – and said the PPP did not use inappropriate language when there was suddenly an unopposed walkover in the Punjab Assembly for the PML-N candidates during the Senate elections.

 “We rather stepped aside in support of the PML-N candidates,” she added.

The senator said democracy is a long journey for which the PPP has paid a huge price, and “it is the PPP which will take down the PTI’s tabahi sarkar [destructive government]”.

Defending the PPP’s stance that parliamentary forums should be used to fight the PTI government, she recalled what happened when the PPP boycotted the 1985 general election.

“That is why the PPP advised the PML-N even in the APDM [All Parties Democratic Movement] days not to boycott elections and defeat General Musharraf through the parliamentary and political process.

“That is how President Zardari removed Musharraf,” she said, adding “if we boycott or resign now, the rights of small provinces will suffer a terrible setback as we will leave all forums open for the PTI to bulldoze our parliamentary accomplishments made via the Charter of Democracy [of 2006].”

In response to PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal’s statement that the PML-N will not resign from legislatures now that the PPP is not resigning, she said it is okay if the PPP’s name is used to come to more sensible political decisions.

“There is no point pushing a few parties to the wall. Dictation is not the way to run alliances.”

She also rejected the allegation that the PPP was being supported by the government. “There is no question of collaborating with the government. We contested on every constitutional platform in the parliament and expected better cooperation from partners.”

The senator said the opposition parties’ alliance was to hold the government accountable. “Inappropriate statements [against the PPP] will hurt the PDM and hurting the PDM means giving space to the selected government whose days are numbered,” Sherry added.

PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair, who also serves as the spokesperson for Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam, said he would not like to comment on the statement of the PPP leader.