Pak defence minister said an agenda was ruthlessly pushed against the then Nawaz Sharif government
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif insists that former spy master Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed played a key role in removing Nawaz Sharif from premiership, local media reported.
Asif feigned ignorance about any investigation related to Gen Hameed’s brothers, as opposed to the claims made by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Samaa TV reported.
The defence minister said if party leader Maryam Nawaz has made any comments about the probes, she must have some information.
He said a lot of evidence has come into the public domain that a process had started during Nawaz Sharif’s prime ministership.
An agenda was ruthlessly pushed against the then Nawaz Sharif government, Samaa TV reported.
Asif also alleged that Lt Gen (retd) Hameed played a key role in removing Nawaz Sharif, and bringing PTI chief Imran Khan to power.
He added that Khan’s wishes were implemented by the former spy chief.
“We are talking about the accountability of a former soldier,” Asif stressed, Samaa TV reported.
He alleged that the 2018 elections were engineered, people were imprisoned and punished.
If Khan was honest, he remarked, the country would have gone on the path of development. He further said if Khan had admitted that the army was neutral, there would have been an improvement in country’s affairs.
He claimed Khan wanted Hameed to remain the chief of the premier intelligence agency, and wanted to appoint him the army chief, Samaa TV reported.
He taunted that PTI Chairman could make anyone his “political godfather” for personal gains.
How Imran Khan and Pervaiz Elahi have politically outsmarted Nawaz and his party’s calculations came as a bitter surprise for the Leaguers.
After having received serious political blows, one after the other, from Imran Khan in Punjab province during the last two consecutive days, the PML-N London is considering coming back to Pakistan before it is too late, the media reported.
For some in the party, it is already too late and now there is not much that can be done because of the irreparable political cost that the PML-N has to pay because of its early last year decision of removing the Imran Khan government and coming into power, The News reported.
For the bad luck of the N-League, Shehbaz Sharif-led PDM government is also not performing and the issues like worsening economic conditions and price hike are contributing to further unpopularity of the party.
“We had thought that through our good governance and economic turnaround, the PMLN would get its popularity back but that is happening mainly because of growing financial challenges and price hike,” a senior PMLN leader said.
Imran Khan at PTI Azadi March (Twitter)
The party sources admit that ever since the removal of the Imran Khan government, the popularity of the PML-N is on decline whereas PTI is going up and up, The News reported.
The last two days, it is said, were shocking for the PML-N and its top leadership.
How Imran Khan and Pervaiz Elahi have politically outsmarted Nawaz and his party’s calculations came as a bitter surprise for the Leaguers.
Nawaz and Maryam, both of whom are in London, were assured that neither Pervaiz Elahi has a majority to get a vote of confidence nor there is any chance of the provincial assembly’s dissolution.
To their utter disappointment, Imran Khan succeeded on both counts.
While the PML-N top leadership in London was not over with the shock of a successful vote of confidence by Pervaiz Elahi, it got another shock the very next day when the latter signed the advice for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.
According to a report following the Wednesday night events, Nawaz had reportedly conveyed his anger to the party’s Punjab leadership and had directed it to ensure the Punjab Assembly is not dissolved. It could not be prevented either.
Maryam Nawaz was already planning to come back mid-February but after the PML-N having been seriously jolted by Imran Khan’s moves in Punjab, the London leadership is reconsidering their plan.
Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif (Photo Courtesy Twitter@MaryamNSharif)
Now besides Maryam, there is also consideration about the timing of Nawaz Sharif’s return. In case of election date for Punjab, it is said, both may hurriedly rush to Pakistan, The News reported.
Imran Khan’s politics, supported by the failures of the PDM government in Islamabad, it is admitted, has considerably shrunk the political space for the PML-N in Punjab, which has been the party’s stronghold for the last few decades.
“Expecting from Shehbaz Sharif government and the PML-N’s second tier leadership to create space for the top London leadership to come and make the party popular like before is a faulty policy,” a PML-N leader said.
He added that the leadership does not wait for the space to be created by others but it through its own charisma and political moves wins the hearts and minds of the people. For this, it is said, the London leadership has to come to Pakistan.
The PML-N source said that now there is no hurdle in the return of Nawaz Sharif, The News reported.
Nawaz Sharif also said his party is against the politics of revenge and hatred while its prime objective is to make the country self-reliant…reports Asian Lite News
Former Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that he wants to return to Pakistan immediately, adding that the consultations over it are underway, media reports said.
He said that the people in Pakistan are facing financial problems not political, while reiterating that the general elections in the country will be held at the designated time, Samaa TV reported.
The PML-N supremo said that Imran Khan’s long march has failed, adding that his rhetoric – which has sown the seeds of lies, hatred, and division – could not flourish, Samaa TV reported.
Nawaz Sharif also said his party is against the politics of revenge and hatred while its prime objective is to make the country self-reliant.
He suggested that the coalition government should start programmes like youth loans and provision of free electricity to people consuming less units.
PTI chief Imran Khan had earlier called out Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for consulting his elder brother Nawaz Sharif regarding the appointment of the new Army chief, The News reported.
“How can the PM consult a fugitive [Nawaz Sharif] on a chief of army staff’s appointment,” he asked, referring to Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to London last week.
“It is impossible to imagine that a convicted and fugitive person will now take important decisions in Pakistan,” he said.
The former premier added that they are only thinking about protecting their wealth, questioning whether they should “be trusted with the important decisions of the country?”
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed his party workers to not let Imran Khan off the hook after ECP report had emerged, reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz has advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to be ready, as the “time for accountability has come.”
Maryam’s remarks came after PM Imran Khan’s statement regarding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) report, which revealed that PTI has hidden foreign funding worth millions of rupees. Khan welcomed the investigation by the ECP’s scrutiny committee, which has reportedly revealed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) allegedly failed to disclose millions of rupees to the ECP, according to News International.
Taking to her official Twitter handle, Maryam questioned why did he [Imran Khan] not let the case proceedings continue for the last seven years.
“Why did you [Imran Khan] keep hiding for so many years and then kept begging that the report should not be released?” she questioned.
Pakistan’s ruling party PTI headed by the Prime Minister is under scanner after a report compiled by the ECP on its funding.
(Image Credits: ANI)
The Election Commission of Pakistan’s report stated the PTI provided ‘false information’ regarding the party’s funding. It’s said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statement revealed that the party had received Rs 1.64 million in funding.
Imran Khan had earlier said that the more their accounts are scrutinized, the more factual clarity will emerge for the nation to see how the PTI is the “only political party with a proper donor base premised on proper political fundraising”.
On the other hand, Imran Khan mentioned that he was looking forward to seeing similar ECP scrutiny reports on the funding of two other major political parties, PPP and PML-N.
Don’t let Imran off the hook: Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed his party workers to not let Imran Khan off the hook after ECP report has emerged.
“Do not let (prime minister) Imran Khan off the hook as he has been caught red-handed while stealing money through the party’s foreign funding. His so-called honest image has completely been shattered and he should be exposed before the nation,” Nawaz told a party meeting, which was attended by its central and Punjab leadership, including Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, in Model Town here on Thursday via video link, reported Dawn.
He told the party members to not allow both houses of Parliament to run smoothly until “justice” is served.
Imran Khan mentioned that he was looking forward to seeing similar ECP scrutiny reports on the funding of two other major political parties, PPP and PML-N.
According to a party member, Nawaz Sharif told PML-N leaders not to let the subject die down until it reaches its natural conclusion.
Nawaz Sharif, who has been in the UK for ‘medical treatment’ since November 2019, urged the participants to expose Prime Minister Imran Khan’s alleged fraud on all platforms.
The PML-N supreme leader, Shehbaz Sharif, has been told to begin convening workers’ conventions at the district and divisional levels in Punjab, in order to mobilise party members ahead of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM), planned an anti-inflation march on Islamabad in March.
“Don’t let the National Assembly, Punjab Assembly and Senate run smoothly, and aggressively agitate this matter in which the true face of Imran Khan has been exposed,”, he was quoted as saying.
“We don’t have to allow an easy escape to ‘the selected’ on this matter,” he maintained.
According to a party source, taking the case to court was also discussed, but no decision was reached. “The party will first see what action the ECP takes,” he said.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
“Nawaz Sharif also directed the party leadership to gear up for a decisive anti-inflation march on Islamabad proposed by the PDM in March. For this purpose, the former PM said workers’ conventions should be held at the district and divisional levels and also re-organisation of the party completed at the district level at the earliest,” an insider said, reported Dawn News.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has also scheduled a long march against the PTI government in Islamabad on February 27. (ANI)
Maryam congratulated Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his party for their performance. “JUI-F’s win is PML-N’s win,” she said, promising development for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the upcoming years…reports Asian Lite News.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has said that her father and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will soon return to Pakistan.
“Pakistan is his country,” she said, Samaa TV reported.
On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court resumed hearing the Avenfield case. In a media interaction outside the court, she said that her father is desperate to return to the country and will do so soon.
“Imran Khan’s time has come to an end. He is stuck under the burden of his own performance and can’t stay in power for long,” she remarked. She was referring to PTI’s recent defeat in the 2021 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Elections, the report said.
Maryam congratulated Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his party for their performance. “JUI-F’s win is PML-N’s win,” she said, promising development for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the upcoming years.
“This is the first time I have seen a government lose one local body election after the other,” the politician pointed out. “Khan still has time. He should just leave himself now.”
Maryam claimed that the National Accountability Bureau is just delaying the case as it has nothing to prove against her. “All the cases against me are fake and based on lies.”
In July 2018, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison and a fine of eight million pounds was imposed on him in a case linked to the Sharif family’s purchase of upscale London flats, the report added.
It said the Sharifs could not legitimately show the money trail for the purchase of the luxury properties in London, mostly in the mid-1990s. A copy of the verdict said the Sharif family had failed to prove a legal source of income for the purchase of the Avenfield apartments.
