LAHORE: Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar predicts that the establishment will soon bid adieu to the PML-N government for not being able to carry its weight while the Sharifs’ silence during and after the war with India also sparked unease within the establishment.

Unlike the practice of ministers’ press conferences, he said, only the DG ISPR and other forces chiefs held a media engagement on the outcomes of the four-day war.

In a discussion at the National Vision Think Tank (NVTT) here, Mr Bhachar said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz did not utter a single word against India and Narendra Modi.

He said the establishment was done with using the PML-N government and it would now look for better options, having the public’s moral support.

Answering a question, Mr Bhachar said the PML-N government was so weak that it could not even appoint its interior minister and asked, “which party interior minister Mohsin Naqvi belongs to?” He also said the PML-N government was compelled to carry on with the chief secretary and the IG police appointed by Naqvi during his caretaker chief ministership in Punjab.

Mr Bhachar also asserted the PML-N MPAs were annoyed with their party as they were getting cold response from the bureaucracy in their constituencies while “the party leadership was telling them they were Form-47 MPAs and needed to stay silent”.

Citing an example of MPAs annoyance, the opposition leader said CM Maryam Nawaz had chaired her parliamentary party meeting, which saw absence of more than 55 MPAs. He claimed that several PML-N MPAs were in contact with the PTI.

Answering a question, the opposition leader said Imran Khan was looking to have dialogue with the establishment because the incumbent political rulers were its puppets. “Mr Khan can come out of jail in a day but he has decided not to accept the establishment’s demands, including his silence,” Mr Bhachar claimed and added that Khan would strike a deal on equal footings.

Answering a question about Mr Khan’s sons’ prospective entry into politics in Pakistan, Mr Bhachar said the world had listened to their interviews and agreed that they had all the moral right to wage a campaign for the release of their father. “Mr Khan’s sons are now competent enough to enter into politics,” Mr Bhachar said while refuting the dynastic politics charges.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025