It’s vendetta, not accountability: Maryam Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, talking about the NAB references, on Saturday said it was vendetta, not accountability, and she would personally not like to be part of such process.

In an interview in Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ hosted by Talat Hussain, Maryam passed these remarks, saying the accountability process through which they had passed through during the last one and a half years showed grudge only. They were free to pass any judgment, she remarked.

She was answering a question regarding the future line of action amid the NAB references and the stance that there had been a conspiracy against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.

Maryam said the Dawn Leaks issue was created to only pressurise Nawaz, adding that it was a ‘non-issue’. “The reality of the [Dawn Leaks] issue should have been revealed,” she said, adding that the truth should have been brought forward.

She further said the Supreme Court’s verdict to disqualify her father from holding public office did not fulfil the requirements of justice. “The Supreme Court’s decision not only astonished the PML-N but the entire world,” she said.

“We were not given the opportunity of a fair trial and the verdict did not fulfil the requirements of justice. The world is astonished over the verdict. When our judges, who are experts and understand the law, when they give such a verdict it will not only astonish the PML-N but also the entire world and questions will be raised,” she added.

Maryam said that keeping in view the treatment meted out by the judiciary over the last year and a half, it was not possible to hope for justice yet “we decided to test the judicial system once again” by filing the review petitions against the Panama Papers case verdict.

“With this in mind, we decided to once again test the judicial system of the country. We wanted to fulfil the legal requirements and the world should know that we approached the court repeatedly and tried repeatedly to have our voice heard. Now the result is in front of everyone,” she said.

Maryam added that they were subjected to the worst media and judicial trial. “The people know everything and they’ve supported us throughout,” she said.

“I believe there is no bigger injustice than what was done with us for the last one and a half years. We were subjected to the worst media and judicial trial. What happened during the JIT, I do not want to go into those details. We stayed within the system and fought for our rights and are now raising our voice for our rights.”

Maryam also noted that the former prime minister “made several compromises in his four and a half years tenure which, in my opinion, he should not have done.”

She said it would not be wrong to say the public had run the election campaign for PML-N in NA-120, insisting that Begum Kulsoom Nawaz would be represent the party actively in the assembly. The PML-N would give reply to the conspiracies hatched by the opponents by winning the NA-120 by-election with a huge margin, Maryam said.

In response to a question about her own nomination for legislature, she said she would soon represent the party in the assembly.

“The difference between the previous elections and this one is that 80 per cent of the supporters this time around are youth,” Maryam said, in response to a question about the election campaign.

She made it clear that the name of Kulsoom Nawaz was not being considered for the prime minister’s office, adding that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was performing his duties in an excellent manner.