PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Friday said the military leadership ‘should not have been seen’ with Prime Minister Imran Khan a day after the ruling PTI suffered what she called a ‘battering’ in the Senate elections, a private TV channel reported.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Maryam said Prime Minister Imran called and met the heads of institutions in the lawns of PM House ‘on the day he suffered a humiliating defeat [and] his members expressed a lack of confidence in him and voted against him’. “Is he not dragging the institutions into politics?” she said of the premier.
She noted that the Inter-Services Public Relations director general had repeatedly urged politicians not to drag the military into political matters. “I think instead of saying this to the public, he should tell Prime Minister Imran Khan sahib that ‘you have lost, been humiliated, failed, and lost the trust of the people […] so kindly do not drag us into this politics,'” she added.
Addressing the military leadership, Maryam said, “You should not have been seen sitting with Imran Khan at any cost a day after he suffered a battering [and] faced the people’s and public representatives’ anger, when he (Imran) was busy in machinations and rigging.”
Maryam said that action should be taken against Prime Minister Imran Khan as he has ‘insulted’ the Election Commission of Pakistan. She said the ECP did not give a personal opinion in the Supreme Court’s presidential reference hearing. “The election commission gave its opinion under the constitution, and neither the ECP has the power to amend the constitution nor does the Supreme Court,” she said.
Maryam said the ECP had taken a rightful position during the apex court’s hearing, adding that now “even the institutions know who is ridiculing them.” “[Even] the president of Pakistan has admitted that PM Imran Khan has lost confidence,” Maryam said.
The PML-N leader claimed that Senate tickets in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were sold for billions of rupees. However, despite winning in both the provinces, the government cried foul over their loss in Islamabad. She said the president has ‘acknowledged what the nation understood’ in the recent by-elections. “Even though he was late to understand this, I congratulate the president for understanding the situation.”
Meanwhile, newly-elected PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said the prime minister has “violated the Election Commission Act by insulting an institution.” Rehman said the allegations against the election commission for “shielding criminals” and undermining democracy are worrisome. Taking a jibe at the government, the PPP leader said after the Daska by-election, it had no moral justification to point fingers at the election commission.
