LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday the plan to frame MNA Rana Sanaullah in a narcotics case was the brainchild of Prime Minister Imran Khan and declared that the party would face the intimidating tactics of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government in a bold way.

Mr Sharif presided over a PML-N meeting held in Model Town here to formulate its strategy after the arrest of Mr Sanaullah by the Anti-Narcotics Force.

The meeting approved the names of the party’s senior vice-president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and secretary general Ahsan Iqbal as members of the Rahbar Committee that would propose suggestions regarding replacement of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

The PML-N, however, has no immediate plans to take to the streets, apparently in a bid to foil what it believes to be the government’s plan to arrest more party leaders.

Says PML-N workers will take to the streets at ‘appropriate time’

Mr Sharif also formed a committee to look into a reported meeting of some PML-N MPAs with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Banigala the other day.

“The informant who gave a tip-off about the reported presence of 15kg of narcotics in Rana Sanaullah’s car was Imran Khan himself. Even no dictator in the country’s history stooped so low and got politicians booked in fake narcotics cases,” Mr Sharif said while talking to reporters after the meeting. He said even the worst enemy of Mr Sanaullah would not believe the government claim that he carried narcotics.

The PML-N chief said Mr Sanaullah’s arrest was an instance of state oppression and injustice and that “Imran Khan Niazi has taken this step to divert attention of the masses from the anti-people budget”.

“During the last 10 years Rana Sanaullah has been working with me and has launched a number of anti-narcotics drives. It is unfortunate that this rubbish accusation has been levelled against him because of political vengeance,” Mr Sharif said.

“If this government stays in power for another few months, it will destroy the country completely,” the leader of opposition in the National Assembly said.

He accused the prime minister of resorting to horse-trading, saying, “After establishing himself as an undisputed king of U-turns, Niazi has now become the champion of horse-trading.”

He said the “so-called prime minister” was maligning national institutions by using them for political victimisation.

Mr Sharif said three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif was being denied medicines, medical assistance and mandatory diet in prison. “Imran Khan has given special instructions that Nawaz Sharif should be denied medicine, access to doctors and mandatory diet. If this small man thinks that such shallow acts will break Nawaz Sharif or silence the PML-N leaders, he must be living in a fool’s paradise,” he said.

He alleged that PM Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum had laundered billions of rupees and made properties abroad but nobody was taking this corruption into account.

In reply to a question about launching a protest drive, he said: “When appropriate time will come, PML-N workers and masses will be on the roads against this selected prime minister.”

Published in Dawn, July 3rd , 2019