Maryam terms foreign letter ‘fake’

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Friday denied the veracity of the foreign letter (diplomatic cable), terming it fake and said that former prime minister Imran Khan only lasted in office for over three years as he had the support of a former intelligence officer. “Imran Khan has also lost his mind after losing premiership,” Maryam said while addressing a rally in Fateh Jang, Attock.

The rally was the first of seven addresses, planned for this month by the PML-N, to neutralise the threat posed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to the existing PML-N led coalition government. Interestingly, PTI Chairman Imran also held a rally in Mianwali, his home town, the same day and similar to all his previous rallies, it attracted a huge crowd. When Maryam, who is said to be main crowd puller of the party, held her rally, the comparisons were bound to be made on social media.

Opening images and videos of the venue where only a few hundred people could be seen were widely shared on the internet and the party got trolled for it, prompting a PML-N office bearer to reply that many convoys were on their way. By the time Maryam arrived, a decent crowd had gathered. Another interesting comparison was the timing of the venue – Imran addressed his rally during the day despite an inclement weather in the region, whereas Maryam waited for night to fall.

Addressing the participants of the rally, Maryam said that sometimes Imran talks about conspiracies and sometimes he talks about a fake letter that did not even exist. “Last night, Imran himself exposed his lie of foreign conspiracy by saying that he knew about the conspiracy since July last year despite the fact that the letter came in March.” She said that if Imran had known about the conspiracy, then why he was saying that he was praying that the opposition brings a no-confidence motion against him.

Read more: Imran Khan – the first Pakistani PM to be ousted through no-trust vote

Maryam’s comments at the rally are contrary to the developments during the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, which termed the diplomatic cable “interference in country’s internal matter”.

Maryam also accused the former spy master of shouldering Imran’s government, saying that the PTI government survived with the aid of a former intelligence officer. “Imran Khan himself revealed that he did not want an intelligence officer posted out, as the intelligence officer was his government's eyes and ears.”

She said that the said intelligence officer was not his eyes and ears, rather he was the hands with which they used to victimise the opposition leaders, and he was the crutches which kept the government on its feet. “When the government lost his support, it fell instantly.”

She said that Imran was now talking about organising a long march on Islamabad; that he was actually organising a march to save Goggi. “Farah Khan is the front woman for Imran Khan as her dots trace back to Bani Gala.” She said that Imran did not come to rescue his sister Aleema Khan, who was accused of making millions with just a stitching machine, but came to rescue Farah.

She said that Imran last night said that (referring to his podcast) Farah was a successful businesswoman. She said that during Imran’s regime, the entire country became poor but one woman became richer, and that woman was Farah Khan Goggi. She said that Rana Sanaullah has vowed to bring Farah back from any country.

Farah Khan, a friend of Imran Khan’s wife, and Aleema Khan who is his sister have never held any public office, nor have they ever participated in politics. The reason to go after the two was first to try to directly or indirectly incriminate Imran in any corruption case and second was to hit him where it might hurt the most. Leading political analysts have always condemned dragging women, who are not involved in politics, into smear campaigns. However in this case, they seem to have made an exception.

Maryam chided Imran Khan for taking an expensive armored car from the PM House and later for demanding to either replace that car or pay for its repair. She, however, acknowledged that former prime ministers were entitled to take a car. Maryam said that there were only two former premiers, who did not take even a car from the government – one was former premier Nawaz Sharif and the second, Shahid Khaqan Abbassi. Interestingly, Nawaz did keep a bullet proof Mercedes for himself, after being disqualified from holding the office.

She berated Imran for demanding resignation from the chief election commissioner to cover his own wrongdoings. She said that the CEC was his own appointee. Today, when he was about to punish him for taking foreign funding, he was demanding his resignation. NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal who she and her party bitterly criticised was also their joint appointee. She also condemned the Madina incident.

Also read: ‘Will give call for Islamabad long march any day after May 20’, Imran tells Mianwali rally

Maryam lauded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for ending load-shedding as well as for bringing down prices of wheat and sugar. She said that the actual problem of Imran was not of losing his office but of seeing Shehbaz at his position. “The reason Imran Khan calls Shehbaz Sharif a boot polisher and cherry blossom, is because a person who has been a boot polisher his entire life himself does not know anything else.”

She said that seeing Shehbaz as the PM makes him feel that his days in politics are over. “He (Imran) knows that comparison will be made between the one who reaches the office by 1pm and leaves by 4pm and the one who works round the clock.” She said that Imran spent all his time in the PM Office victimising his opponents.