PML-N angry over finger pointing at Nawaz

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reacted angrily on Tuesday to the government claims that the central character in the “threatening letter” that Prime Minister Imran Khan waved in his party’s power show on Sunday was Nawaz Sharif, and mocked its offer to show the letter to the chief justice.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz came down hard on the prime minister and urged the apex court to stay away from this “evil”, while former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi demanded that the letter should be presented in parliament.

“Offering to show the letter to the chief justice of the Supreme Court by this ‘fake former’ prime minister is part of his ‘save me’ call. Kindly the Supreme Court should keep itself away from this mischief and evil,” Maryam Nawaz wrote in a series of tweets on her official Twitter handle.

“Nawaz Sharif was thrice removed from the post of prime minister but he did not let national security to be harmed. He did not make false accusations against anyone,” she said. “What could be more dangerous and unfortunate for any country that a ‘foolish and ignorant’ person like Imran makes decision about their future and fate.”

Maryam Nawaz’s tweets came after Planning Minister Asad Umar and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Prime Minister Imran was willing to share the letter, which he waved during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally on Sunday night, with Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial.

Imran had said that he had the evidence that the no-confidence motion was a foreign-funded conspiracy against his government. He waved the letter to the crowd, saying that he could not elaborate on its contents because of foreign policy sensitivities.

Umar told a news conference in Islamabad that the “central character” in the letter sent to the prime minister was PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. He added that the letter mentioned the no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

Also read: Relevant quarters see no evidence of 'foreign funded plot' against PM

In one of her tweets Maryam warned against “disgracing Pakistan” and “playing” with the country’s national security. “What could be more dangerous for the security of the country than the prime minister staging a spectacle to save his power by pretending false conspiracies?” she wrote.

“It is impossible to imagine any more dangerous consequences for this country than having you as prime minister,” she continued. “Power in your hand is [like] a blade in the hand of a monkey. You are hurting yourself and also Pakistan,” she said.

Referring to the prime minister’s speech earlier this month that he had been praying for the no-confidence motion so that he could expose them, Maryam said, “Until yesterday you were praying for no-confidence. Today you are calling it a foreign conspiracy? Come to your senses. Do not disgrace

Pakistan all over the world. And don't play with its [country’s] security.” Separately, addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Abbasi, while referring to Prime Minister Imran's claim about a threat to Pakistan, demanded that parliament should be convened "immediately and the letter of "foreign-funded conspiracy" be shared with parliamentarians.

Abbasi further demanded that all diplomatic relations be broken with the country that had "threatened Pakistan" through the letter and its envoy be expelled. "This is how a sovereign country reacts when it is threatened," he said.

According to the former prime minister, Imran showed a paper as proof of the threat. “Keeping politics aside, I, too, am worried about my prime minister, crying about receiving threats” because in this case, the threat had been made to the country.

“The opposition has grave concerns over some of the details shared by the prime minister and his ministers and there is a need to get to the bottom of these matters,” he said. "Threats are not made to a prime minister but to the country," he remarked.

Therefore, he added, he was demanding that a session of parliament be convened on an immediate basis, “tomorrow [Wednesday] and the letter be shared” with parliamentarians. "If this is a secret matter, an in-camera session should be held," Abbasi continued.

Stressing that the parliamentarians should be informed which country had dared to threaten Pakistan, he said: “No one had dared to do so in our 74-year-long history. Are we so weak now that we are being threatened through a letter? Parliament should be taken into confidence on this.”

Mentioning his demand for snapping diplomatic ties with the country that had written the threatening letter, Abbasi said: “If the prime minister is speaking the truth, then this is how you should act ... don't we have the courage to name [that country]?"

Abbasi also questioned the timing of the letter, asking why it surfaced right before the start of the no-confidence proceedings. "Why was it not shared earlier and why did you keep it hidden?" He said the prime minister should come to the parliament and tell parliamentarians who had threatened Pakistan.

“We are with him on this. We are with him [on this] for the remaining six days for which he remains the prime minister. We will fight these external dangers together, but if you are lying, you will have to answer to the nation. The decision is yours. Either [share it] in parliament or apologise,” Abbasi said.

Referring to federal ministers Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry’s allegations that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was involved in the conspiracy, Abbasi said the two ministers should either show proof of their claims or apologise.

The former prime minister advised the government not to put the country's foreign policy at stake to stay in power and if a threat had been made, the matter should be raised in the National Security Committee and parliament.

“It is not just about Imran Khan and his two ministers. This is about 230 million people of Pakistan and there is a need to respond to this threat." He warned if the government did not show the letter now, "it will be shown after April 4. It will be published in newspapers".

He said that a person who told others not to worry seemed to be worried himself. “Whether he was worried about the no-confidence motion, his [looming] ouster or something else, we do not know,” Abbasi told reporters.

(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)