In an apparent toughening of stance after a “failed” long march by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected the “deal” proposed by the former ruling party.
Addressing a press conference, Maryam said that PTI leaders approached National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to “make a deal and give them a safe exit”.
“They wanted to make a deal on give and take basis but Nawaz Sharif rejected it, saying he will not tolerate any threats,” she added.
Maryam said that Nawaz Sharif has said that PTI should do whatever they had announced now. “Even if the elections were going to happen will not happen now,” she quoted the former prime minister as saying.
She said that PTI delegation included former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and Speaker Asad Qaiser.
PML-N leader said that PTI leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Pervez Khattak also came to meet with the speaker. “To summarise, they wanted a safe exit because they had already announced a sit-in,” she added.
Maryam said that her party respects Supreme Court’s decision, ordering the government to allow PTI to organise their long march at a ground between H-9 and G-9 areas of the federal capital. “The decision is basically a safe exit for them.
Their lawyer kept saying in court that they wanted a specific ground which can only hold 10,000 people. To this, the government lawyer repeatedly said the ground can only hold 10,000 people but PTI knew they cannot produce more people than that number so they insisted,” she added. Getting frustrated, Maryam said, the PTI resorted to violence.
They have torched vehicles and a police van… they’re putting green belts on fire and are damaging public property. This is what we have been saying that PTI only wants to create chaos in the country,” she added. Saying that Imran Khan should not remove his “political coffin and take it back to Bani Gala”, she said that she had asked the government not to arrest Imran Khan as he will expose himself.
