Coalition govt can't take big decisions, early elections only remedy, says Maryam

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz Thursday said that the coalition government cannot take big decisions, so holding early general election was the only remedy.

Speaking to journalists outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), she said the chief of the army staff must be a competent individual with a "flawless" background, so that people could salute the armed forces of Pakistan.

She said that the Pakistan Army is a respected institution and added that "the whole nation looks at the armed forces for the stability and security of the country". The PMLN leader reiterated that the army chief should be a person who has a “flawless reputation” and who is good for the people, country and the institution.

Maryam added that it was a "good thing" that the armed forces had decided to stay away from politics and limit themselves to constitutional role as this had been a struggle for politicians.

The PMLN leader blamed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for delaying her case. "NAB has no evidence against me, if they had something then 10 months is a long period to prove. Either they give the excuse of coronavirus or they change their lawyers,” she said, adding that their [NAB’s] lawyers didn’t appear in the court during today [Thursday]'s hearing as they have no evidence against her.

“If there is any evidence against me, then punish me, but if there is no evidence, then the judiciary should take notice of the excuses given by the NAB,” she said. Criticising the PTI government, the PMLN leader said: "Those who have nothing to talk about their performance despite being in power for four years take support from conspiracy theories and threat letters."

Maryam said Imran Khan is involved in a conspiracy against the country. “Today, I remember the statements of Dr Israr Ahmed and Hakeem Saeed who said that Imran Khan was being prepared to destroy the country,” the PMLN leader said, adding that she now understands what they meant.

Shedding light on the criticism from PTI leaders, she said that those who have been responsible for ruining the economy of Pakistan for the last four years are blaming the government that has come into power four weeks ago. "Rupee shot to 185 from 105 during PTI's tenure and they froze the prices of diesel and petrol because they knew that they would lose power."

She said that the country was brought to the brink of bankruptcy; however, they [PTI leaders] aren't ashamed of holding press conferences.

Maryam said when a player is brought into the government from the cricket ground, this is what happens. "He [Imran Khan] doesn’t know what economy is. In these last four years, he has pushed Pakistan four hundred years back,” the PMLN leader said. “Imran Khan should give answers to the public on his own."