PML-N adopts silence to strike deal for Hamza's relief?

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in recent days has adopted a 'low-profile' and detached itself from political activities in the backdrop of the reported efforts by the top party leadership to get some 'relief' for Hamza Shehbaz presently detained by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

While other opposition parties including Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are criticising the federal government policies dealing with coronavirus, the PML-N senior leadership has been largely silent in this regard.

Background discussions with political circles revealed that the 'silence' of the PML-N on the country's political front can best be explained in the backdrop of the reported efforts of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif to get some 'relief' for his son Hamza Shehbaz who is facing NAB cases and is presently in custody.

After last month's release of senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique from jail on bail granted by the Supreme Court, almost all PML-N jailed leaders are now on bail except for Hamza Shehbaz.

Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman PML-N Raja Zafar-ul-Haq dismissed as rumour that PML-N is trying to strike a backdoor deal with the powers-that-be to get some 'respite' for Hamza.

Criticizing the federal government, he said the government did not take the opposition into the loop while taking important decisions of national importance on battling coronavirus.

"Last month, the Punjab cabinet unilaterally decided to postpone the local government elections for nine months, without taking parliament and political parties on board. The government should have consulted parliament and political parties before taking important decisions linked to coronavirus like deployment of military troops across the country, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, last month," he added.

The opposition parties, he said, have, time and again, urged the prime minister to show 'seriousness' in efforts to prevent COVID-19 outbreak, and demanded that meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) be held to monitor the situation.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also rejected the impression that the party's leadership is silent on government policies and maintained that the party president Shahbaz Sharif and other senior leaders including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal and others are 'actively' giving party's position regularly on the government's 'flawed' policies.

"Being the spokesperson of the party, I am sharing the party position on daily basis on all the issues including the government's incompetence to deal with the situation in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic," she added.