ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz on Thursday lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for his failure to control price hike and inflation and labelled him a “certified thief”.

Talking to reporters after appearing in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), she said that when Imran Khan was staging the sit-in in Islamabad before assuming office, he used to say it from over the container that inflation increases in a country when its rulers are thieves.

“The current skyrocketing inflation and increase in petrol prices just prove that Imran Khan is the biggest certified thief of Pakistan,” she alleged.

In response to a question about the Toshakhana case, she stated Prime Minister Imran Khan himself used to say that accountability starts from the prime minister and the powerful need to be brought under the law when he was in the opposition.

“He [Imran Khan] used to give examples of the accountability of Hazrat Umar. When it comes to his own “theft”, he just refused to present himself for accountability…This is not your personal wealth, but of the people of Pakistan and you would have been made accountable for this.”

“You can’t do this to label others as thieves and hide your own theft under this pretext. You will have to give the answer,” Maryam further asked the prime minister, while referring to the government’s recent response in the IHC, refusing to submit details of the foreign gifts for being “classified.”

She further claimed that now as the government is going to complete its tenure more and more things would come to the surface.

“This is not your personal matter. This is the wealth of the nation and you will have to be made accountable for every single penny,” she maintained.

She also claimed that the status of the prime minister is nothing more than that of a mayor of Islamabad.

The PML-N leader also stated that the opposition should become the voice of the people at a time when they are facing worst inflation and prices hike of every commodity.

Maryam also accused the government of attacking the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), adding that it was a “desperate” attempt to hide their “theft”.

She said that the attack on the ECP was also aimed at preventing the election body from revealing the fact behind the rigging in Daska by-polls.

She also alleged that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be another episode of the same process in which the Results Transmission System (RTS) was stopped to change the results of the 2018 general elections.

She also predicted by claiming that the PTI would be in no position in the next general election where no candidate would be willing to accept its ticket and even if those who would accept the party’s tickets would have to face the anger of the people.

When her comments were sought on formation of a government and opposition committee in the National Assembly on electoral reforms and the concerns expressed by JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman on PML-N agreeing to the committee, Maryam said that she believes these electoral reforms as ineffective unless the origin of the rigging and manipulation is blocked.

“Unless a wall is erected against those who surpass their authority and plunder mandate of the people, there would be no benefit of any electoral reform,” she maintained.

When asked to comment on the notice served on party leader Javed Latif for speaking against the PML-N president, Shehbaz Sharif, she said that Latif may be giving response to the show-cause notice “if it has been served on him”.

“I believe that obviously, freedom of speech is the right of everybody in every political party, but there should be no violation of the party discipline. I also believe that Javed Latif is a “true soldier” of Nawaz Sharif and an advocate of his narrative. If he has said anything in violation of the discipline, he would be submitting his response and will see as what were the reasons,” she added.

Responding to another query about the fake Covid-19 vaccination entry in the name of Nawaz Sharif in Lahore, she expressed concerns over the media reports in this regard, adding that like every other thing, this government’s Covid vaccination is also “fake” and it might have an international response.

About the situation in Afghanistan, she said that the internal situation of Afghanistan should not be manipulated for political reasons and it should be left for the Afghans to decide about their own future.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021