NAROWAL: Vice Presi­dent of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz said on Wednesday the talk of NRO did not suit someone who “himself was depending on others for everything”.

Addressing a gathering in Zafarwal, where she had gone to visit an ailing PML-N worker, she said: “You keep talking about NRO, but you have no authority to grant such a deal. Rather you will be seeking an NRO for yourself in a few days’ time.”

She did not name anyone but was apparently referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan. She also did not elaborate on her claim that Mr Khan would be seeking an NRO for himself soon.

In the same vein, she said the “political victimisation and targeting of the Sharif family through selective accountability” would end soon. There was nothing in her speech that could indicate whether she was speaking metaphorically about the cases being faced by the Sharifs.

Referring to the prime minister’s announcement about a commission that would look into the hefty loans taken by the PML-N and PPP governments in the last 10 years, the daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif asked why the probe had been limited to the last decade. Then she herself replied: “Because then [more than 10 years ago] his master [Gen Pervez Musharraf] was in power.”

Turning to the tax recovery drive of the present government, she asked how could a person who paid only Rs100,000 per year in taxes but lived in a 300-kanal house call upon the nation to pay taxes honestly.

Criticising the ongoing accountability drive in the country, she said there was one law for the nation and another one for PM Khan and his party colleagues.

Ms Nawaz alleged that last year’s election had been stolen. “In fact it was won by the PML-N.”

She said when her father was prime minister the country was making progress, inflation was decreasing, loadshedding was being dealt with and efforts were afoot to end terrorism and generally the economy was being strengthened.

“Now the institutions are the same, but Pakistan is not making progress; no one in the country is having peace of mind. There is inflation and uncertainty everywhere; items of daily use are out of the reach of the common man. A labourer earning Rs15,000 cannot make both ends meet. We have to leave our homes now to save the country,” she said.

The recent arrest of the country’s political leaders reflected the confusion of the prime minister, said the PML-N leader.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2019