Maryam doing politics on her father’s ailment, says Dr Firdous

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Saturday billed PML-N senior vice president Maryam Nawaz' news conference as a suicide attackon her own party by calling the charter of economy a joke and ridiculing her uncle Shahbaz Sharif.

At a media conference, Maryam Nawaz, who is the Vice President of PML-N, termed the charter of economy a joke with the economy and asserted that there could be no agreement with the government, which has stolen the masses mandate and played havoc with the economy. About how she describes Maryam's hue and cry regarding Nawaz Sharif's health in ‘rapid decline’ in the prison, Dr Awan quipped had Maryam been a qualified medical doctor, she would not have politicised her father's health the way she is doing now. She regretted that Maryam is politicising on the medical reports of her father.

The special assistant to PM said Maryam had entered a medical college but then got involved in extracurricular activities. Describing her as a convict, the special assistant asked Maryam not to forget that her sentence has not been overturned, and she is just on bail. Responding to her ‘outburst’ against the government, Dr Awan dubbed Maryam as the Raj Kumari and alleged that she is deriding her own uncle, who is leader of opposition in the National Assembly and president of the PML-N. She claimed PML-N is now mired in two narratives and added that after her media talk, Mayram should have also demanded resignation of Shahbaz Sharif.

She emphasised that this is a new Pakistan and now everyone would have to face supremacy of the Constitution and the law. Dr Awan pointed out that the opposition is repeatedly blaming the government for playing politics over Nawaz Sharif's health but today the 'princess' herself politicised the matter. The special assistant to PM charged, "today through those reports, she has once more made it evident that she is raising a hue and cry to seek relief on medical grounds. But the fact is that there is no medical issue and Nawaz Sharif is not suffering from pain in the heart, but he and you 'mohtarma' are suffering from the pain of being away from power". "You are suffering from that pain and Mian Nawaz Sharif is also troubled by the fact that in the opposition his brother is not standing with his viewpoint. So this is the pain that was reflected today," she said, addressing Maryam.

About the two-day visit of Emir of Qatar to Pakistan, she said that he has brought multi-billion investment to Pakistan and his visit is the victory of the Prime Minister’s narrative and a diplomatic success too. “I welcome the Emir of Qatar on behalf of 220 million people of Pakistan,” she maintained. Previously, for personal benefits, she alleged, letters were got written from Qatar and Nawaz brought shame to the nation for the sake of his own interests. “In the past whenever Qatar was mentioned, Qatari letter was also mentioned,” she remarked.

To a question, the special assistant to PM said the joint opposition had scheduled to launch an anti-government drive after Eid, and wondered what had happened to that?