PML-N yet to be given level-playing field: Maryam

Says Imran should be treated the same way Nawaz was treated

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Tuesday said that her party was yet to be given a level-playing field despite being in power.

She expressed these views while addressing a press conference at the PML-N secretariat in Model Town moments after obtaining her passport from the Lahore High Court.

She denied getting any “relief” in cases against her following the recent amendments to accountability laws, saying that she got a reprieve on merit “and that too under old NAB laws”.

Justice was overdue and it has been delivered now, the PML-N leader said.
Flanked by federal ministers Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khurram Dastgir, senior PML-N leader Parvez Rashid and MPA Azma Bukhari, Maryam said that her party isn’t getting the level-playing field as PML-N supreme Nawaz Sharif was still facing cases while Imran Khan was roaming free in the country.

“Imran Khan and his party must be treated the same way Nawaz Sharif was treated and cases were made against his workers,” said Maryam. She added that Imran Khan will be ousted from the politics forever and he will be put behind bars if the formula of level-playing field is implemented in the country.

Earlier in the day, Maryam said that Imran Khan was trying to seek an NRO at the President House. She was referring to a purported meeting held recently between Imran and an important representative of the establishment. “Later, he started hurling abuses at institutions when he was refused the NRO,” said Maryam.

She added that the PTI chief was “all praise for Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Pakistan Army when they were supporting him but he is now abusing them when they decided to remain neutral”. “He (Imran) will be all praise for them once again if they start supporting him.”

“If you are so popular, then why are you appealing to neutrals and forcing them to renege on their oath and help you?” she asked.

She went on to say that countries were now hesitant from sending ciphers to Pakistan assuming they might land in unwanted debates and conspiracies.

Maryam said she will try harder to get Imran punished for his “crimes”, claiming that the foreign funding case was the “father of all cases” against the former prime minister.

Talking about her plan to travel abroad to meet her father in London, she said that she will visit him soon. “I want Nawaz Sharif back in Pakistan but it will be decided by him,” she said, adding that she will fly abroad to undergo a surgery that isn’t possible in Pakistan.

Commenting on the dismissal of the contempt notice against Imran, Maryam said she respected Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court for his decision “but I want to tell the judiciary respectfully that generosity is not shown to people like him”.