LONDON: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has refused to meet former interior minister Chaudhary Nisar who has arrived here for a two-week visit for medical checkups and to hold meetings. Credible sources have said that some contacts here approached Nawaz Sharif with a request to consider meeting Chaudhary Nisar during his London stay on desires of mutual friends but the former prime minister flatly refused to meet his last government’s interior minister.
The News contacted both Ishaq Dar and Shahbaz Sharif and asked whether or not they will be meeting Chaudhary Nisar but both of them did not comment. PML-N sources said that relations between Shahbaz Sharif and Chaudhary Nisar are no more warm after Chaudhary Nisar’s attacks on Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and several senior PML-N leaders, including Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The trusted source shared that Nawaz Sharif has made it clear that meeting Chaudhary Nisar will be a betrayal of his colleagues who stood by him in the toughest of times and did not ditch him like Chaudhary Nisar did.
The sources have said that there is likelihood that Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar may meet Chaudhary Nisar but that will happen only if Nawaz Sharif approves of the meeting and gives them go ahead. “PML-N supporters will rebel against the leadership if Chaudhary Nisar is accommodated again in the party after his role,” said the source.
“Nawaz Sharif personally is not meeting politicians and focusing only on his health. Mutual friends approached him with the request to consider meeting Nisar to break ice but Nawaz Sharif politely declined. Nisar attacked Nawaz Sharif’s daughter for no reason and became part of an agenda against his own people. He publicly said that he has no social contacts with the Sharifs,” said the source adding that Nawaz Sharif believes that Chaudhary Nisar did everything to damage the PML-N and the Sharif family and betrayed everyone around.
Chaudhary Nisar flew through Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) flight PK-785 from Islamabad to London with his wife. He is expected to undergo medical examination during the visit and will hold meetings.
Nisar had announced he was distancing himself from the PML-N after developing differences with Nawaz Sharif and others. He had said that he will never accept Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz as PML-N’s leader.
In his interviews, Nisar had said that his advice was ignored by Nawaz Sharif and others and a needless confrontation was started by the party against the institutions.
In last elections, Nisar lost to PTI’s Ghulam Sarwar Khan who got 89,055 votes in NA-59 while Nisar got 66,369 votes. He lost to PTI’s Ghulam Sarwar Khan in NA-63 as well. Ghulam Sarwar won with 64,301 votes while Nisar stood second with 48,497 votes. PML-N’s Sardar Mumtaz Khan stood third with 22,475 votes.
Nisar won his provincial assembly seat but did not take oath on it. The PML-N has claimed that Nisar lost due to the fact that he did not have backing of the party.
Upon his arrival at the Heathrow airport, Nisar spoke to media and said he was in London for his three medical appointments. When asked if he will meet Nawaz Sharif, Nisar said: “I am here for my own medical treatment. My trip is completely apolitical.” When asked about meeting Shahbaz Sharif, Nisar did not deny that he will not be meeting the former Punjab chief minister, who was once his best friend: “I have three appointments and I will be focusing on that.”
He was asked about some speculations that his name has been mentioned as the future Punjab chief minister. He said: “It’s for the people to decide. I am active in my constituency. I don’t want to respond to presumptions.”
Nisar criticised Imran Khan’s government for the economic chaos and political instability in the country. “Perhaps Pakistan faces more daunting challenges today than at any time in the country’s history. It’s irrelevant who comes and goes. Political instability and economic meltdown are Pakistan’s biggest issues at the moment. There’s a political theatre going on in the country and all parties need to sit together to find a solution. I don’t see any solution to these two in the foreseeable future. Media knows fully well what’s going on in the country.”
When asked again if he will be meeting Sharif brothers, Nisar advised reporters to ask only about the “national issues, not about individuals.”
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