LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday said that she has had enough of political revenge and has shown enough endurance but it is time to vie now.
After getting interim bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) till April 12, Maryam talked to the media and said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is being run by everyone except the institution itself.
The PML-N leader said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government is in trouble and the anti-graft body will not be allowed to save his sinking ship.
Maryam said that there are no differences with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and such ups and downs are a part of politics. PML-N and PPP have individual strategies and some common goals under Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), she added.
The PML-N vice-president asserted that she has a good relationship with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. “I am Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, I am aware of the politics of tolerance, and know how to follow it,” she commented.
Earlier in the day, the high court approved Maryam’s interim bail till April 12 and barred the NAB from arresting her.
A two-member bench heard the PML-N VP’s plea as she moved the court, requesting an interim bail ahead of her NAB hearing on March 26. The court directed Maryam to appear before the NAB investigation officer. The court issued notice to the NAB chairman and summoned a reply in the next hearing.
PML-N’s Muhammad Safdar, Rana Sanaullah and Pervaiz Rasheed were present in the courtroom along with Maryam who had been summoned by the anti-corruption watchdog in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills and illegal land transfer cases. She had challenged the NAB notices afterwards.
As per NAB, the Sharif family in 2013 had acquired 3,568 kanals of land allegedly in connivance with a former DCO and an ex-DG of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) during the tenure of Shehbaz as chief minister. Out of it, 1,936 kanals were allotted to the Sharif brothers’ mother Shamim Bibi, 96 kanals each to Nawaz and Shehbaz and 1,440 to Maryam.
Meanwhile, PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair on Wednesday said that Maryam’s popularity is the biggest threat for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.
Zubair said in a statement that the PML-N VP is the pride of former premier Nawaz and the party. NAB has become an accountability wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he added.
While referring to PM Imran as a “coward”, the PML-N leader alleged the premier is collaborating with the anti-graft body to silence Maryam. A false, baseless and political case has been created against the PML-N vice-president, he added.
Zubair said that Maryam kept the narrative of Nawaz alive with full force. He also said that the “NAB-Niazi nexus” ignores theft of flour, sugar, electricity, gas and medicine along with corruption in cases pertaining to Peshawar BRT, Malam Jabba, Billion Tree Tsunami and helicopter use.
Separately, Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that the ministry has approved the deployment of Rangers outside the NAB Lahore office on the Punjab government’s request.
Addressing a press conference, he said that the Punjab government had requested the federal government to maintain law and order in the provincial capital ahead of PML-N Vice President Maryam’s appearance before the NAB on Friday (March 26).
The minister clarified that the Punjab police would lead from the front in providing security to the NAB’s Lahore office.
Earlier, NAB Lahore sought foolproof security from the law enforcement agencies, including Punjab police and Rangers, to protect its building from the PML-N workers.
NAB also asked the authorities concerned to declare its Lahore office ‘red zone’ after the PML-N directed its political leadership to accompany Maryam during her appearing before the anti-graft watchdog.
“A genuine political leader does not use workers as a shield rather lead them from the front.” said the minister.
He said that PML-N’s show of power outside the NAB office is not for the PTI government but to pressurise the PPP.
The opposition’s moves had always provided political benefits to Prime Minister Imran, he maintained.
He noted that both the parties PPP and PML-N had always dug political pitfalls for each other and there were many instances in that regard. Now, they disagreed with each other over the selection of the leader of the opposition in the Senate, he added.
Criticising the PDM chief, he said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s political career has come to an end and now he had become a rolling stone between the PML-N and PPP.
The interior minister made a passionate appeal to the masses to refrain from participating in any public gathering as Lahore had witnessed a spike in the coronavirus cases with a 14 per cent positivity rate.
Similarly, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Wednesday warned that no one will be allowed to take law in their own hands on March 26, adding that confrontational policies are not in the interest of the country.
Buzdar, in an informal conversation with media persons, said that if the NAB summons someone, they should respect institutions of the country and appear before the anti-graft watchdog.
It is worth mentioning here that Punjab government has approved the NAB’s request to declare its Lahore office as a Red Zone on March 25 and 26 due to Maryam’s hearing.
Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said that no one would be allowed to violate the law and strict action would be taken against those who breach the law and order situation or the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Furthermore, Special Assistant to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister on Information and Higher Education Kamran Bangash said that PML-N VP has set the wrong precedence by taking procession before her appearance before national institutions, such as NAB, and such irrational and illogical tactics were tantamount of putting the country back to politics of the 1990s.
Flanked by Culture and Labour Minister Shaukat Youafzai, the CM aide said that taking a procession to escape accountability was not appropriate, adding that the PML-N has an old habit of attacking and ridiculing the state institutions.
He said that 10 years’ imprisonment can be awarded under Section 31 of NAB law in case of creating hurdles in its proceedings.
Bangash said that the government would not allow anyone to ridicule or damage the sanctity or prestige of national institutions and would ensure the supremacy of law.
The CM’s aide said that the PDM was protecting its vested interest and claimed that the unnatural alliance of PDM was in disarray. He asserted the PDM’s “drama” and the “ill designs” of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazl have completely flopped.
Bangash said that the main objectives of PDM were to protect the corruption of its leadership and personal interests. He said that the PTI government had inherited a poor economy and burden of loans due to the wrong policies of previous regimes.
Labour Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said that despite coronavirus, the country’s exports were being increased, adding, Pakistan’s economy had been put on the right track under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran.
He reiterated the government would not compromise on rule of law and would ensure the supremacy of the Constitution and sanctity of national institutions would be protected at all cost.
The provincial minister said that opposition parties under PDM were united to protect the corruption of their leaders and all their ill designs were stand exposed before people.
He said that the government was well aware of the problems of price hike and efforts were being made to curb all the issues faced by the public.
He added that the third wave of coronavirus was serious and urged the people to strictly follow SOPs to prevent its spread.
