Maryam Nawaz, senior vice president and chief organizer of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has requested that the judiciary first evaluate its “basic responsibility” before assessing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) performance in organizing the general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“You sat down to evaluate the election commission’s responsibility. Definitely examine it, but have you ever assessed your own basic responsibility?” the politician asked, as she addressed a workers’ convention in Sargodha, Punjab on Thursday Maryam’s comments made a day after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial formed a larger bench, led by himself, to hear the case after taking suo motu notice of an alleged delay in the elections.
She questioned the former chief justice Saqib Nisar without mentioning any names: “Does the dam waley baba know where Pakistan stands right now? Do [ex-CJP Asif Saeed] Khosa sahib and Baba Rehmat know where the country is at the moment? Ex-CJP Khosa presided over the five-member Supreme Court bench in the Panama Papers case in 2017, which resulted in the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif, the then-prime minister and leader of the PML-N. The PML-N leader spoke as images of them scrolled past on a screen behind her as she shifted the focus of her criticism back to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran and how they helped him both before and during his government’s tenure.“The five people visible on the screen are responsible for Pakistan’s current situation. This cabal of five is responsible,” she said, which included two incumbent SC judges.
Maryam added that the former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid was their “leader”, as he wanted to become the army chief.
“Faiz Hamid wanted to become the chief. He needed a political face,” she claimed. The politician reiterated that the traces of Hamid still exist.
“Faiz Hamid does not love Imran Khan. There is fear of the crimes they have committed in the last five years. He made billions of rupees and transferred them to the Gulf countries,” she said, adding that while Nawaz was the people’s representative, the former spy chief chose the “watch-stealer” Khan.
Maryam poked fun at the PTI’s court arrest campaign, “Jail Bharo Tehreek,” by stating: “Those in the jail are missing their parents and children in one night.” This is the first “Jail Bharo” movement in history where the police trailed [PTI] workers. She claimed that out of the 15 million residents of Lahore, only 60 to 70 people had been arrested. “Those who up until yesterday (Wednesday) were chanting for the ‘Jail Bharo’ campaign are now pleading for their release.” Imran Khan, she continued, is “going into history’s dustbin” because he lacks the leadership skills that her father Nawaz Sharif exhibited. She jokingly said, “Prisons for workers and bails for oneself,” in reference to the PTI chief’s fear of going to jail.
The PML-N stalwart took a jibe at Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab, for joining the PTI and reminded him of his remarks about former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for being a Khan apologist, saying: “Today, Parvez Elahi has taken the responsibility of changing nappies.” She also criticized his son Moonis Elahi for spending all of his time working for money.
