LAHORE: Rejecting the Charter of Economy offer made by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif to the government, the party’s vice president Maryam Nawaz on Saturday termed it a mockery of the economy.

A clear divide in the party lea­dership was visible at the PML-N office in Model Town during the press conference addressed by Ms Maryam when she asserted that her ailing father Nawaz Sharif, too, did not favour any kind of Charter of Economy or Charter of Democracy.

She said the opposition should not show any slackness in holding the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government responsible for ruining the economy within 10 months after coming to power with a stolen mandate.

She said the opposition parties should not become partner to what she described as the government’s crime of ruining the economy and making life of the masses miserable. Lending support to the incompetent government would be like an NRO, she said, adding that the prime minister immediately agreed to constitute a committee as he wanted to make opposition parties partner to his crime.

Says she is being kept in the dark about Nawaz’s health condition

About the recently announced Com­mission of Inquiry, Ms Mar­yam demanded that it should investigate all the borrowings since 1999 instead of from 2008 and should also include the Rs5,000 billion increase in debt during the past 10 months.

She also questioned the inclusion of intelligence agencies per­s­onnel and National Accounta­bility Bureau officials in the com­mission instead of economists. She said the national security institutions should not be made controversial, asking the heads of the security institutions to stop their subordinates from indulging in political affairs.

Terming the commission another joint investigation team, the PML-N vice president demanded an independent monetary institution conduct audit of the loans taken during the past two decades and present its report in the parliament for a decision. “No political party should appear before the Com­mission of Inquiry,” she said.

Asked about former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s move to seek political asylum in the UK, Ms Maryam on a cue by former information minister Pervaiz Rasheed said he was doing the right thing. “There is no free and fair accountability in Pakistan. The incumbent government is involved in a witch-hunt,” she said.

Answering a question related to extension to the service of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Ms Maryam said the issue had yet not come up and the party would form its point of view after consultation.

Calling her incarcerated father a political prisoner, Ms Maryam said he had suffered a third heart attack in jail but the authorities kept his family in the dark about his condition. She said all would be responsible if her father faced any issues. By “all” she meant all right from the prime minister to everyone involved, she explained.

With this press conference, she said she put all facts and case of her father’s health before the nation. “I am not seeking any relief from this fake government, which came in with a stolen mandate.

“This is neither Egypt nor we will let Nawaz Sharif become Morsi,” she added.

Ms Maryam said her father needed proper treatment from the cardiac surgeons who knew history of his ailment.

She also read out a report of PIMS doctors, who treated him after the third heart attack in Adiala jail and explained to her that one neck vessel of Mr Sharif was 90 per cent blocked that could lead to stroke.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) announced that the party had decided to convene a multi-party conference (MPC) of the opposition parties in Islamabad on June 26. The MPC is being convened in line with the decision taken by opposition leaders at an Iftar-dinner hosted by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari last month.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2019