In an apparent toughening of stance after a "failed" long march by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that former Nawaz Sharif has rejected the "deal" proposed by the former ruling party.
Addressing a press conference, Maryam said that PTI leaders approached National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to "make a deal and give them a safe exit".
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"They wanted to make a deal on a give-and-take basis, but Nawaz Sharif rejected it, saying he will not tolerate any threats," she added.After using brute force to stop the PTI's long march through a number of measures, including mass arrests, road blockages, tear gas shelling and downright beating, Maryam the "low turnout" as a rejection of Imran Khan's narrative.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who also doubles as a defacto head of the party, paid her gratitude to the personnel of law enforcement agencies for stopping Imran Khan in his tracks and for thwarting his advances towards Islamabad.She said that low turnout was not only a disappointment for Imran Khan but also for the government that had anticipated a large turnout and took measures accordingly.
The PML-N leader said that she would also like to thank the people of Punjab, K-P, Sindh and Baluchistan for rejecting this ‘fitna’ (unrest).Maryam however did not mention the thousands of raids police had made by breaking into residence of PTI workers, breaching their privacy, and the hundreds of PTI workers rounded up in Punjab.
Maryam said that her father has said that PTI should do whatever they had announced now. "Even if the elections were going to happen will not happen now," she quoted the former prime minister as saying.She said that
Read more: We have entered Punjab, heading towards Islamabad: Imran Khan
PTI delegation included former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and Speaker Asad Qaiser.PML-N leader said that PTI leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Pervez Khattak also came to meet with the speaker.
"To summarise, they wanted a safe exit because they had already announced a sit-in," she added.Maryam said that her party respects Supreme Court's decision, ordering the government to allow PTI to organise their long march at a ground between H-9 and G-9 areas of the federal capital.
"The decision is basically a safe exit for them. Their lawyer kept saying in court that they wanted a specific ground which can only hold 10,000 people. To this, the government lawyer repeatedly said the ground can only hold 10,000 people but PTI knew they cannot produce more people than that number so they insisted," she added.
Getting frustrated, Maryam said, the PTI resorted to violence. They have torched vehicles and a police van… they're putting green belts on fire and are damaging public property. This is what we have been saying that PTI only wants to create chaos in the country," she added.
Saying that Imran Khan should not remove his "political coffin and take it back to Bani Gala", she said that she had asked the government not to arrest Imran Khan as he will expose himself." I congratulate all the law enforcing agencies who thwarted this chaos.
I also congratulate the nation for not participating in the chaos and exposing Imran Khan," she added. Maryam Nawaz said that the focus of entire nation should have been on the Delhi court's decision on Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik but instead, this chaos kept everyone busy. She hoped that after the PTI's "failure", the country would see political stability. "
People of Punjab have taken revenge from Imran Khan. They took revenge for imposing a person such as Usman Buzdar who kept saying he was on training throughout his tenure," she added. Maryam said that PTI kept claiming that it will bring 2.5 million people to the streets but failed to bring even 200 people from any district of Punjab.
"Rana Sanaullah said why did he deploy so much force. They kept the government busy in this so-called long march."PML-N leader said that the masses have "slapped Imran Khan hard" by not participating in his long march, adding that people have dismissed his narrative today.
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