Maryam vows to protect bureaucrats

LAHORE:

Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N’s chief organiser and nominee for the Punjab chief minister’s slot, on Sunday warned that legal action would be taken against those who were inciting the bureaucracy to break the law – indirectly referring to the PTI.

Maryam, the PML-N’s senior vice president and daughter of its supremo Nawaz Sharif, wrote on social media platform X that threatening the bureaucracy meant creating chaos in the state system, and an open indulgence in this practice was an invitation to disaster.

Addressing the bureaucracy, Maryam said officers should not be intimidated by threats and perform their duties according to the law.

The PML-N leader continued that those who threatened the security of the officers would be dealt with “iron hands”.

She vowed to ensure the security of the officers.

In related development, PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan accused the PTI of inciting hate against government officers and urged the interim government to take action against the party.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore, accompanied by party leaders Ataullah Tarar and Uzma Bukhari, Malik Ahmad said Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha, who had tendered his resignation a day earlier after alleging that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa were involved in “rigging” the recent general elections, was never a party to the polls process to begin with.

He added that the Rawalpindi commissioner was neither a returning officer (RO), nor a district returning officer (DRO) and had nothing to do with the electoral process.

In fact, he pointed out that the Rawalpindi commissioner did not even hold a post in the ECP.

He claimed that among all this, a dangerous campaign had been kicked off where the photos of various DROs and their families were shared on social media.

“Hate is being incited in a way that is a threat to their lives,” he continued.

It is pertinent to mention that the ECP and CJP Isa have both denied the Rawalpindi commissioner’s claim.

Separately, PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique underscored the imperative need for the party to reflect on its missteps and set them right, suggesting it to take a leaf out of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan's book for impactful use of the social media.

Addressing party activists in Lahore, Rafique maintained that there was no complaint with the chief election commissioner, but injustice was done to his constituency.

“My constituency was divided into pieces during the elections.”

Praising the PTI’s social media team, the PML-N leader said the former premier had the power of a strong digital media presence and reiterated that “our party should identify mistakes and rectify them”.

“The Imran project was prepared in 2010, and the seeds of hatred were sown. It should be clear who sowed those seeds of hatred and efforts are being made to weaken Pakistan from abroad,” he claimed.

“How will anyone accept the elections in this atmosphere of bitterness?”

He asked if his party had emerged victorious in Punjab, had no rigging taken place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

The PML-N leader further said after years, a CJP had arrived who "does not believe in the doctrine of necessity".

“Imran Khan wants to keep the chief justice and army chief in his pocket. I ask Imran to identify where the mistakes are. He [Imran] will have to give up the politics of hate.”

The PML-N leader feared that if one did not give way to another, this “fragile” democracy would have its “last chance”.