After Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s resignation: Maryam Nawaz defends ‘dynastic’ politics

ISLAMABAD: Days after being awarded the party’s top position, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Senior Vice-President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz has defended the dynastic politics and came down hard on those censuring her recent promotion.

“A lot of people are furious over dynastic [politics]. The nation’s love is not called a dynasty, it is a democracy,” she said while addressing a charged crowd of supporters during the PMLN workers convention in Bahawalpur on Wednesday.

Maryam — the scion of the Sharif family’s political dynasty, during her recent months-long trip to London — has been tasked with “reorganising” the party by her father, PMLN supremo and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The PMLN stalwart’s remarks on “dynastic politics” came following party leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s resignation from the senior vice-president post earlier on Wednesday. The development was confirmed by Mohammad Zubair, spokesperson for Nawaz Sharif. “He [Abbasi] is a big leader and quitting the post will have no effect on him,” Zubair, who also served as Sindh governor, told the media.

Sources privy to the matter said Abbasi decided to step down after Maryam was elevated as the party’s chief organiser and senior vice-president by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the party’s president. Speaking on her newly-designated positions in the party, the PMLN vice-president said that the party titles have recently been given and she “cherishes her supporters’ love more than the designations” granted to her. “A lot is being said about my position [in the party]. I am standing by you without the position and you stood by me too. I salute the people of Bahawalpur for supporting us during our testing times,” she said, deeming her supporters as her biggest strength after Allah. During her address, Maryam also expressed grief over the Peshawar Police Lines blast, praying for the lost lives and a peaceful Pakistan. The suicide bombing at a mosque on Monday claimed over 100 lives and injured more than 220 people.

She later conveyed Nawaz Sharif’s regards to the people of Bahawalpur, a key city in Punjab. “Nawaz Sharif asked me to begin the political campaign from Bahawalpur.” Censuring Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for concocting lies about the PMLN, Maryam said she would reveal the truths that “the people of Pakistan must know”. “We should be thankful that Pakistan survived after returning from the edge of destruction, given where it came to in the last four years. They [PTI] had made a 12-year plan [to rule]. Imagine what would have happened had they continued ruling for 12 years,” Maryam said while commenting on the deteriorated economic state of the country. “Ever since the PMLN came into power, our opponents thought that it has gone quiet and weakened. You’ve circled the field as much as you could. Now it is the N-League’s turn,” she added. Speaking about the agreement Imran Khan signed as prime minister with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and how it destroyed the country’s economy in the past, Maryam said: “Imran Khan left the country hostaged by the IMF by signing the agreement. It was a terrible pact. But when he saw the [PM] chair slipping away, he violated the agreement.” The PMLN leader said that she “is aware of inflation in Pakistan and feels the pain” of the nation. “Nawaz Sharif is worried in London over the inflation in the country,” she said.

She also acknowledged the sacrifices made by the armed forces while fighting against terrorism.

However, the party’s senior vice-president questioned the security lapse during her speech criticising Imran Khan for showing the least interest in relevant matters. “When he [Imran Khan] was the prime minister for four years, eight meetings were conducted on security in parliament. He did not even attend one.”