Maryam meets Shahbaz, Hamza

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz Monday said the party leadership was united and those talking of ‘Noon’, ‘Sheen’ and ‘Meem’ [factions] would be disappointed.

She said this while talking to the media after meeting PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, and opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbz, his paternal uncle and first cousin respectively, on the accountability court premises here.

The PML-N leaders had been brought to the court in connection with hearing of a money-laundering reference against them, and Maryam Nawaz had reached there to express solidarity with them. Maryam hugged his cousin Hamza Shahbaz and uncle Shahbaz Sharif in the courtroom and sat between them. The PML-N workers chanted slogans in favour of Shahbaz, Maryam and Hamza outside the courtroom. PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal was also present in the courtroom.

Maryam told the media the Sharif family was united and would remain united and those dreaming of breaking the party would be ashamed in the end. She said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would have to suffer the standards that it was setting today. She condemned the Punjab government for bringing Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz to the court in an armoured vehicle. She said the government was only doing vindictive politics, but now no one was afraid of it, and Imran Khan would soon be sent packing.

Hamza Shahbaz talked to the media in the courtroom. He said the government had become weak while those who fear God did not fear anyone. He said the PML-N leadership would win the ongoing political war in the court of Allah and the people.

He said so far the government had failed in proving a penny of corruption in a year and a half. “In the fire of revenge, they lost all their senses and resorted to all sorts of tactics,” he said adding Imran Niazi was behind all this. Separately, PML-N leaders – Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurengzeb and Azma Bukhari – criticised the PTI government for continuing revengeful politics. They warned the government to stop maligning the opposition and issuing certificates of treason. Talking to the media outside the accountability court on Monday, Ahsan said: “I strongly condemn the malice and revenge of the present government. “Everyone knows about Shahbaz Sharif’s backache, but he was being tortured in jail and was forced to lie down on the floor and was not given a chair for prayers.

He said the only purpose of bringing Shahbaz in an armoured vehicle was to torture him. He said such tactics would not dampen the spirits of the PML-N leadership. “Our struggle would continue till we send Imran Khan packing,” he added. He said the “self-proclaimed Haji” had destroyed the economy as presently over 20 million people were facing unemployment. He said the government was terming the opposition hypocrites whereas the great hypocrites were the ones who turned everything upside down by promising to end inflation and unemployment. PML-N spokespersons Marriyum Aurangzeb and Azmi Bukhari also spoke to the media outside the judicial complex. They said the prime minister and the home minister of the government were speaking in the same tone.

Marriyum said journalists were stranded outside the courtroom while the PML-N workers were also tortured. She said Imran Khan used to stand on the container and talk about grabbing the elected prime minister by the neck. “Today, he has become the prime minister and talks of dragging the political opponents,” she said adding the honourable judge of the accountability court also took notice of the matter of state terrorism. She called the PM a terrorist who had been imposed on the country. She said Imran Khan’s legs had started shaking after PDM’s public rallies. About the upcoming election in Gilgit-Baltistan, she alleged that pre-poll rigging had started in GB, where federal ministers were visiting and the PM was announcing a package.

Answering a question about Ayaz Sadiq’s issue, she said Shah Mehmood Qureshi should have answered Ayaz Sadiq’s question. “We are proud of the testimonies of the Pakistan Army,” she said adding Imran Khan was hiding behind the institutions and his own statements were making the institutions controversial. Azma Bukhari said Imran Khan had gone mad with hatred and jealousy. She said she sympathised with the media over today’s incident. “The media made Imran Khan everything and it was the media, which showed Imran Khan addressing the empty seats for 126 days and today Imran Khan had attacked the same media. Answering a question, she said Fawad Chaudhry should first decide what he wanted. “On the one hand, he said Ayaz Sadiq spoke about foreign minister, while on the other hand the government was demanding an apology,” she said adding Ayaz Sadiq was not sorry about what he had said on the floor of the house.