PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Thursday said the statement of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar was not political but based on facts. Maryam’s remarks came after the PTI top leaders criticized Gen Babar Iftikhar’s statement that there was no evidence found of a ‘foreign conspiracy’ that PTI chief Imran Khan claims led to his ouster.
Talking to the media in Islamabad, she lambasted the ousted premier’s policies, saying “Imran Khan was playing with Pakistan for four years, then when the economy was ruined, he mortgaged it to the IMF [International Monetary Fund].”
She added that the ousted government had laid an ‘economic minefield’ for the successive government, adding that even the PTI’s former interior minister had admitted it, says a news report.
Defending the petroleum price hike and additional taxes stipulated in the new budget, the PML-N vice president stated that Shehbaz Sharif’s government did not willingly impose such conditions.
“The agreement was reached with the IMF in 2019 [during Imran Khan’s government]. As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is committed to fulfilling the agreement, we have to take steps to abide by it,” she furthered.
Blaming inflation on the former government, Maryam said that the PTI had agreed to levy taxes and increase the prices of petroleum products with the IMF. She added that according to the agreement, the price of petrol should have been Rs300 per litre today.
Alluding to Imran Khan’s calls to protest, the PML-N leader said that calls for anarchy, sedition, and violence against the state will be strongly dealt with by the government.
“One corruption scandal after another is coming out against Imran Khan; he is shocked at the nation’s rejection,” she added. The PML-N leader also accused the former premier of “hiding” in Peshawar out of fear of interior minister Rana Sanaullah.
Referring to Nawaz Sharif’s comments regarding former president General Pervez Musharraf’s return to Pakistan, the PML-N leader stated that the party supremo did not believe in personal revenge and his statements were made on humanitarian grounds.
On the matter of elections, Maryam Nawaz said that tough decisions were necessary for the stability of the country, adding that the general election will be held on time.
