Nawaz not happy with Miftah's performance either: Asad Umar

Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and general secretary Asad Umar on Saturday said PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is not happy with incumbent finance minister Miftah Ismail's performance. 

In a reference to the recent war of words between Miftah and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, Umar said the federal minister should not "blame others for his incompetence".

Speaking to the media after filing a petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) notice in the Sindh High Court (SHC), Umar said Miftah should not blame PTI for being a hurdle in the IMF deal. 

The PTI leaders also said they were in a better position to negotiate with the IMF than the current government and the country had made significant progress in talks with the international lender under the PTI government but their "progress was brought to a halt four months ago".

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Party chairman Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar were served a notice of contempt by the Election Commission. However, Umar noted that “it is clear in the Constitution that the Election Commission is not a court”.

The PTI leader maintained that the Supreme Court or a high court can take action under Article 204. “The decisions of the Election Commission against PTI have no scope in the law,” said Umar.

Umar had filed a petition in the SHC against the ECP's notice, requesting the court to nullify the August 19 notice.

In the notice, the ECP stated that Imran Khan insulted the chief election commissioner (CEC) during a rally in Bhakkar on July 12 and made baseless allegations against the ECP.