PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Monday said Pakistan was still struggling to fulfil its basic needs as governments that enjoyed public support were not allowed to function.

Addressing the party's social media team in Lahore, the PML-N vice president said: "Seventy-five years have passed with us hearing that the country is at a crucial stage and that it is going through a delicate time."

She said that there were many reasons for this, one of which was that government's elected through the people's mandate, which focus on their needs and enjoyed public support, were not allowed to function.

As a result, the process of development that is initiated each time comes to a grinding halt, she regretted. "Instead of moving forward, the country goes backward. This is reason why even after 75, 76 years, Pakistan is still struggling for its basic needs."

Maryam went on to say that the PML-N had come into power during "the most challenging time" in an effort to save the country from a myriad of looming crises.

She said that before the new government assumed charge, the economy was on the ventilator, Pakistan's relations with the global community had suffered, and the country was on the verge of defaulting.

The PML-N leader also blamed the "inexperience and incompetence" of the PTI government for the country's current economic crisis.

Calling former prime minister Imran Khan a "70-year-old child", Maryam said that on one hand he claimed to stand up to the superpowers of the world while on the other he was hiding in Peshawar and seeking pre-arrest bail.

Maryam also called for shifting the national debate from spreading chaos and anarchy to issues of public interest instead.

It is both good and bad luck for the PML-N that it inherits a sorry state of affairs whenever it comes into power, she said.

"But the good thing is that whenever the PML-N got the chance, whenever Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif have gotten the chance [...] they steered the country away from difficult times and towards prosperity."

The PML-N leader went on to say that the party did not care for politics anymore and only cared about Pakistan.

She said the government had raised petrol prices with a heavy heart, adding the former government had signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which the incumbent rulers honoured and implemented.

The PML-N leader also talked about an audio clip allegedly featuring business tycoon Malik Riaz and his daughter talking about Farah Khan — a close friend of Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi.

She alleged that Imran's Bani Gala residence was the "headquarters of corruption" during the PTI government's tenure.

"Farah Gogi has already fled the country. If she is not guilty, then come and face the death cell like Maryam Nawaz did." She also alleged that Farah was merely a "front person" while Imran and his wife were the direct beneficiaries.

"It was a small thing, to open one lock she asked for a five-carat diamond. It's an eye-opener," Maryam said, claiming that this was just the tip of the iceberg.