Imran is finished now: Maryam

GUJRANWALA: Senior Vice-President and Chief Organiser Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) Maryam Nawaz claimed on Friday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman had been finished politically and there were no chances of his revival now.

Addressing a charged crowd during her party’s convention here, she said: “Imran Khan is done and dusted. He has reached his end.” She questioned why the PTI chief’s “facilitators” wanted to save a person who had “already drowned”.

“I want to ask the facilitators why they want to save a person because of whom the country’s fate has sunk. That person drowned himself, but why are you people bent on [losing] your jobs?” she asked.

Taking a jibe at the PTI’s ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek (court arrest movement)’, the PML-N politician said: “The Jail Bharo movement did not begin [at all]. How did they suspend it? When the leader is sitting in ‘Zamanat Park’, why would workers want to fill the jails?”

Maryam, when referring to the case filed against her for “insulting state institutions” in her speech, said that they — without naming anyone — have a problem with what she said, but aren’t concerned about the contents of audio leaks of PTI members and allies — including former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi — that have surfaced in the last several months.

An additional sessions court in Sukkur sent a notice to Maryam on Wednesday, summoning her on March 10 over allegations of insulting “state institutions”.

She named Elahi, PTI Punjab leader Yasmin Rashid, and Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry and asked if it was her speaking in their audios.

“Now don’t say that the truck you parked outside the court was driven by Maryam Nawaz,” the PMLN leader said while referring to the violent protests by PTI workers at the Islamabad judicial complex as their party’s chief appeared in the capital’s different courts to secure bail in cases registered against him.

After the PTI workers vandalised outside the judicial complex earlier this week, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police registered a terrorism case for alleged vandalism, riot, and sabotage.

Slamming Khan for not acknowledging his alleged daughter Tyrian Jade White, Maryam said: “The person who cannot acknowledge his own daughter, how would he provide justice to Pakistan.”

She added that when Khan is summoned by the courts, he shows them his plaster cast. “He would mock [PML-N supremo] Nawaz Sharif and his wife [Kulsoon Nawaz]. Now when summoned by the court, he shows his leg with a plaster cast,” she said.

She wondered how the plaster cast was removed from Imran Khan’s leg after the court verdict in favour of his party.

She also questioned the judiciary for expediting cases against Nawaz and being lenient towards the deposed prime minister — whose government was ousted in April last year following a vote of no-confidence.

“Is anyone going to give a verdict against this criminal, or has that been left on the day of judgement to decide?” she asked.

Maryam said the people of Gujranwala should be credited for being the first to recognise the ‘Fitna’ [evil], the ‘watch thief’, and conman [nasurbaz]. She said the future of the country could not be handed over to a drug-addict, and such a person should be sent to a mental hospital or a rehabilitation centre.

Taking direct jibe at PMLN’s rival party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and its chief Imran Khan by bringing a toy truck in the workers convention and calling PTI chief’s residence ‘Zamanat (bail) Park’ instead of Zaman Park.

Maryam alleged that Imran Khan was such a “hypocrite” and “liar” that he could not even stick to a single statement for long and never even accepted his basic failures. “When he lost power, he accused the United States and cited that diplomatic cypher was the reason behind his ouster. Now he is begging the US for pardon.”

She said Imran Khan made his party activists paste anti-America stickers on their cars through his ‘foreign regime change conspiracy’ narrative, but now he was begging for the US help.

Addressing the convention, Federal Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif admitted the country was facing severe economic hardships. “The rulers are facing severe challenges to cope with the challenges and steer the country out of a quagmire.” He said all conspiracies of Imran Khan had been foiled. He assailed Khan’s court arrest movement, saying, “Imran’s ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ has faced a big setback. He himself secured bail, but asked his stalwarts and workers to go to jail.”

Federal Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir and other PMLN leaders also addressed the convention.