Maryam terms Panama case verdict a joke

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Maryam Nawaz has said that what started as the Panama case ended with what can only be called as a joke with the people of Pakistan and this revenge in the name of accountability will not be accepted.

Addressing a women convention in Karim Park on Friday, she reiterated her earlier claims that Nawaz Sharif was disqualified because he did not take income from his son. “They could not prove a penny of corruption of public money despite all their efforts, and when they couldn’t find any reason they came up with the Aqama”, she said.

“Do you accept this unjust verdict?” She asked the NA-120 voters, adding “If you are against the verdict then vote for lion on September 17.”

Maryam was overwhelmed by the love expressed by the female workers who were holding placards in her support. Maryam hailed the role of female party workers and remarked that it is her honour to represent such enthusiastic Pakistani women who know how and when to stand up for their democratic rights.

She said that after the campaign everyday she talks to her father and tells him that in addition to the enthusiastic and diehard men who love and support him, the mothers, sisters and daughters of Nawaz Sharif from NA-120 are working and praying with all their heart.

“Those who believe that they have decided Nawaz Sharif’s fate through this controversial decision are living in utopia; Nawaz’s future will be decided by the nation, not courts”, said Maryam.

She listed the achievements of the Nawaz government since 2013, including the public transport facilities, infrastructure, anti-terrorism and resolution of power crisis. “Isn’t the outages situation better than it was in 2013,” the former premier’s daughter asked the supporters while referring to the PML-N government’s policy of progress and development.

Maryam is handling the NA-120 campaign while her mother, the PML-N candidate for the by-poll, Kulsoom Nawaz, is under treatment for lymphoma in London.

By-election on the seat left vacant after Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court on July 28, will be held on September 17 (tomorrow). A total of 44 candidates will contest the NA-120 by-poll.