Zubair says no more part of PMLN decision-making

KARACHI: Disappointed with his party leadership, former Sindh governor and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Muhammad Zubair has revealed that he is not part of the decision-making process within his party while the nation heads towards the general election.

Following Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismail, Zubair became the latest PML-N heavyweight to express his disappointment publicly. Speaking on Geo News programme “Naya Pakistan” hosted by Shahzad Iqbal on Sunday, Zubair said probably he is associated with the PML-N, adding that he is in the party “just like Abbasi”.

“I think, I am in the PML-N. I am in [the party] just like Abbasi is,” he added, as Abbasi had stepped down from the party office soon after the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as senior vice-president and chief organiser.

Recalling his services to the former ruling party, Zubair said he vigorously supported the PML-N from 2013 to 2018.

The ex-spokesperson of PML-N’s supremo Nawaz and Maryam said that he was among the six or seven founding members of the election cell, adding that he was with the elder Sharif during all three terms in the government.

To a question about his meetings, according a former ISPR chief, with the then army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, and if those meetings were personal or at party’s behest, Zubair responded, “Obviously (at party’s behest). Those meetings could not be personal. Otherwise why would I waste seven hours three hours of the most powerful man of the country.... First meeting lasted for four hours and and second for three.”

He said he met Gen Bajwa to seek justice (for party) and raised with him the issue of Maryam Nawaz’s blackout on media.

“I stood firm with the party when a difficult time came in 2017 after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif.”

According to the PML-N leader, during the tough time, nobody dared to visit Jati Umra — the residence of the three-time former prime minister — except a few people. “Becoming the spokesperson of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz was the most difficult job.”

His appointment as the spokesperson of the duo was a matter of honour for him, Zubair added.

To another query, the “sidelined” PML-N leader said: “In cricket, there are T20 and Test players. During the Test matches, T20 players are dropped.”

Responding to a question about the equal opportunities of electioneering for all the political parties, Zubair said that his party was also seeking a level-playing field in the 2018 election but they were denied.