Maryam rallies behind party leader

Says Zubair will continue to be her spokesman

LAHORE:

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday said that a "leaked" video of senior party leader Mohammad Zubair was his "personal matter", adding that he would continue to serve as her spokesperson.

A video, which seemingly emerged on Sunday night, allegedly showed Zubair getting intimate with an unidentified woman. The video was among the top trends on Twitter.

A day later, Zubair termed the video "fake and doctored", saying it was a "new low" in politics. Such private videos of anyone should not have come out, Maryam said today.

"Those who thought that Zubair would be removed from the post of spokesman after the video surfaced are wrong,” she said while talking to the media in Lahore. “He will continue to serve as Nawaz Sharif and my spokesperson."

She claimed that the senior PML-N leader had received threats before the video scandal and asked her political rivals to “battle it out in the political arena”.

The PML-N vice president recalled the video and audio leak of former accountability judge Arshad Malik wherein he allegedly confessed to convicting PML-N supremo of corruption charges under "duress" and said that she “doesn’t have anyone’s private video”. “The video of Judge Arshad Malik made by Nasir Butt was a national level matter,” she said.

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Commenting on the extension of the tenure of incumbent National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, Maryam said that “the constitution doesn’t say anything” about the matter.

“The party would be better positioned to comment on the matter of NAB chairman’s extension,” she added.

Nawaz's return

Talking about PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Maryam said she wanted her father to return to Pakistan before December but clarified that "it will not be possible because his health will be in danger [if he returns]". “I want Nawaz Sharif to return before December as he is eager to come to Pakistan.”

Her comments about Nawaz's return come days after party leader Javed Latif claimed that the PML-N supremo would be arriving in the country this year and will become the prime minister for the fourth time — a claim immediately rebuffed by party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, who said Nawaz will only get a return flight booked when doctors in London give him a "clean health chit".

Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 after he was allowed to leave the country for medical treatment.

Maryam said her party desired to introduce a system of governance that ensured provision of justice to everyone and do away with a system in which "a three-time prime minister is dragged on the streets".