Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday called out former prime minister Imran Khan for criticising Pakistan Army, saying that, unlike her party, his criticism was for his own sake.
Addressing a news conference in the federal capital outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Maryam said that the PML-N also criticised the army but “it was positive criticism”.
She added that the ruling party wanted them to play their constitutionally mandated role.
However, she claimed, “Imran is attacking the army” because it was abiding by the Constitution.
In an allusion to Imran’s comments that the establishment should make the "right decision" to prevent Pakistan from “suicide”, Maryam asked Imran about these “right decisions”.
“What are the right decisions in your opinion?” she asked. "Is it the decision to shut down the RTS system to help you win the election, or remain silent on your catastrophic economic policies, or help you take revenge on your political rivals?
Maryam said, "Imran believes that the army standing by the Constitution instead of him is wrong." She added that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was a “great general” when he supported Imran during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, but now he was being called “Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq” by the former premier.
She claimed that Imran had always turned on his benefactors and supporters.
According to the PML-N VP, Imran was desperate for power, and he wanted to take revenge on the “state” for his failures in politics. She also took the former premier to the task for saying that Pakistan could “split into three parts”, saying nothing will happen to Pakistan but the party of the former premier itself would be split into 300 parts.
Lashing out at the PTI chief, the Maryam said that he is on the “verge of insanity”, adding that such a “sick-minded person” should not be allowed to roam freely. She claimed that he had “lost his senses” due to the loss of power, saying that he failed in both the government and the opposition.
Read Imran’s election ultimatum just a ‘face-saving’ attempt: Maryam
She also asked him to explain whose “agenda” he was working on.
She added that Imran was the first politician who had talked about the division of the country. “Your logic is that when you are in power then ‘long live Pakistan’ but when you are thrown out of power then Pakistan is on the verge of breaking into three parts,” she chided.
The PML-N leader said that the nation would stop Imran if he tried to drag the military into politics, adding that the former premier will not be allowed to put the sacrifices of the law enforcement agencies on the altar of his politics.
Maryam said that the idea of rolling out the country’s nuclear programme has already been dropped. “What is the role of Imran Khan in the nuclear programme?” she asked.
The nuclear programme was started by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the test explosion was carried out by Nawaz. “Imran Khan was living abroad when the explosions took place,” she added.
She said that the PTI chief had not yet been touched despite his actions after the ouster, as he was still the “blue-eyed” politician. She added that Imran called off the long march and took refuge in Peshawar because he was “afraid” of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
“He is not an inqilabi (revolutionary) leader but a zamanti (on bail) leader,” she quipped, referring to the protective bail Imran got from the high court in Peshawar earlier during the day.
Maryam also accused a private TV channel for siding with Imran and supporting his attacks on the state institution and the country. She alleged that the private media outlet was as much responsible for the current situation as Imran. She requested the media to "stop airing the speeches" of the PTI chief to save the country from his "fitna" (discord).
In response to a question, Maryam said that a number of PTI stalwarts were in contact with the PML-N led government as they wanted to quit the former ruling party over the issue of resignations from the National Assembly (NA).
The PML-N leader claimed that the PTI leaders were unhappy because they believed Imran’s economic policies and the foreign conspiracy narrative had considerably damaged the political stature of the party.
The statement about the split of Pakistan was the “last nail in the coffin of PTI and Imran”, she added. “No one would stand with Imran Khan, nor anyone should,” she said, adding that the former premier alone was responsible for the entire mess.
To a question about the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), she said that he was used as a “puppet” by Imran and now he wanted a safe exit. She added that a new NAB chief would be someone who would make decisions “on cases, not faces”.
She also added that NAB should investigate allegations against Imran’s close friend Farah Gogi.
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