Nawaz Sharif doesn’t mean COAS or army by ‘Khalai Makhlooq’: Rana Sanaullah

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah has said that the party is sticking to its narrative of “Vote ko izzat do” (Give respect to vote).

In an interview with the Voice of America (VoA) on Sunday, he said Nawaz Sharif’s slogan of ‘Khalai Makhlooq’ (aliens) did not mean the army chief or the army as an institution. He said Shahbaz Sharif wants to move forward with reconciliation rather than confrontation with the institutions. He said the government ministers wanted that the opposition did not support the Army Act bill so that it could be proved that only the government could understand the national issues.

He said that the government wanted to arrest him in Model Town case, but failed because the joint investigative team was challenged in the high court. He said neither an institution as whole is wrong nor can any organisation be called wrong.

He defended his party’s move to support the passage of the bills pertaining to the tenure of the services chiefs, but conceded that it had made an error by acting in haste.

“We still stand by our stance of ‘Vote ko izzat do’ and civilian supremacy. Party supreme leader and ex-PM Nawaz Sharif stands by it,” the PML-N leader said.

The decision of the party’s leadership has left many in the rank and file of the former ruling party red faced as they believe that the decision has practically smothered ideology of the party, he added.

He said the PML-N leader had instructed the party not to become part of a decision taken in haste to avoid the impression of parliament turning into a rubberstamp.

Sanaullah clarified that no party had opposed an extension in the army chief’s tenure and only had reservations over the procedure being followed by the government.

Meanwhile, talking to the media in Faisalabad on Sunday, the PML-N Punjab president said on Sunday that in-house change was his party’s passion. He claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s task to woo Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) would prove pointless. He said the sooner the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) quits the government better it is for the country.

The majority of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML-N are the same, adding that the progress made today could end the government in the next three to six months. He said MQM’s decision might be a hit at a prelude to country’s political situation in the next 3 months.

Rana Sanaullah said masses were suffering due to rising inflation, adding that free medicines had been provided to the people during the PML-N’s tenure, but the facility was closed now.