A two member Islamabad High Court bench has acquitted Maryam Nawaz and Captain (rtd) Safdar in the Avenfield case. According to the judgment NAB failed to prove the case against the accused. A judge remarked “We cannot announce a verdict on the basis of public knowledge of some hearsay.” Maryam is now free to contest elections, whether provincial or national, as decided by the PML(N) leadership.
Among PTIchief Imran Khan’s recent upsets, the judgment in the case against Maryam and Captain (rtd) Safdar could be the most damaging. Among PML(N) leaders currently in Pakistan Maryam is the sole crowd puller and a daunting opponent. The PTI chief always taunted her for being a convict. Now she is no more so in the eyes of the law. Her release is expected to put some fight in the otherwise languishing PML(N). This has also given rise to hopes among party workers that PML(N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif might soon return. The way PTI leaders have reacted to the judgment indicates the depth of their frustration. As far as former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry is concerned, Pakistan’s institutions “have lost people’s faith.” Somewhat similar views were also expressed by PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar
The IHC judgment is a reflection on the way how NAB got the government’s opponents sentenced without solid evidence. Mr Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s comment regarding a senior uniformed officer pressurising him to deny Maryam and her father bail resulted in the judge losing his job but didn’t even lead to the officer being asked to answer on oath. As PM Shehbaz Sharif put it, Maryam’s acquittal is a slap in the face of the so-called accountability system that was employed to target the government’s opponents .
Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal is however no guarantee of the PML(N)’s rise in Punjab which used to be its stronghold. The PML(N) is unpopular due to the implementation of IMF’s austerity programme, with no end to the rise in prices, unemployment and decline in the value of rupee. The PML(N) has no inspiring narrative either. Despite Maryam leading the campaign during the last by-election in Punjab, the PML(N) was trounced by the PTI. Mr Khan continues to gather big crowds even in districts where the PML(N) had won almost all National Assembly seats in the general election. Those attending PTI rallies are generally more charged than the ones in the PML(N)’s gatherings . There are more young people and women in the PTI’s rallies. Winning back Punjab is going to be no cakewalk for the PML(N).
