Hashmi asks PML-N to make Kulsoom PM

MULTAN: Senior politician Javed Hashmi has advised the PML-N to elect Kulsoom Nawaz as prime minister which would benefit the party in general elections. 

Addressing a press conference at the press club on Tuesday, Hashmi congratulated Begum Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on the victory in the NA-120 by-election. He said Begum Kulsoom won the election due to a hectic campaign run by her daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

“If Begum Kulsoom Nawaz is elected as prime minister, it wouldn’t mean that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is incapable.” He, however, said that the Sharifs should not keep all the party portfolios in the family.

He asked the PML-N leadership to revisit strategy for the next general elections. He said the country needs a strong parliament at present. 

He said the country was passing through a critical juncture and an environment had been created against Pakistan. He alleged that a few judges had taken oath under the Musharraf regime. Certain decisions create an impression of partiality, he added.

The veteran politician opined that PTI chairman Imran Khan was losing the masses trust. He said the PTI had been divided into several factions.   Hashmi said PTI's Yasmin Rashid grabbed some 7,000 less votes as compared to the 2013 general election which showed that the people had lost confidence in the politics of PTI chief Imran Khan. He expressed concern over growing division in the ranks of all mainstream political parties.  Declining popularity of PPP and Jamaat-e-Islami in Punjab was a matter of concern as their candidates got very little votes in the NA-120 by-election, he added.