ISLAMABAD: Regarding the recent defections in his party from south Punjab, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the lawmakers were never really a part of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
On Monday, eight PML-N legislators resigned from the party announcing a Junoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaaz.
Legislators who quit PML-N included former state minister for foreign affairs Bakhtiar, an MNA from Rahim Yar Khan; MNA Tariq Iqbal from Vehari; MNA Muhammad Qasim from Multan; MNA Basit Bukhari from Muzaffargarh; Sardar Dareshak, Saleem Ullah Chaudhry, Alam Dar Laleka and Syed Asghar Ali Shah.
On Tuesday, talking to journalists at the accountability court, Nawaz said that something probably ‘descended’ on those who left the party.
“They were never part of the party,” he said, adding, “their background is also not from the PML-N”.
“These were not the people who voted along the party line for the political parties act in the assembly,” he said, adding, “politics is maligned because of such individuals, they keep changing loyalties.”
Nawaz also referred to the defections in Balochistan, saying a party had come out of nowhere in the province.
Further, Nawaz said that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had undertaken record development in south Punjab and termed the recent Lodhran by-poll win of his party’s candidate as an expression of public satisfaction with the government.
Nawaz lamented that those who worked for the country were being dragged through courts, whereas those who never followed the law were touring up and down the country.
Nawaz also spoke about the issue of enforced disappearances, saying that the matter was a serious issue. “Making someone disappear is a grave crime,” he said.
The three-time premier wondered what families of missing persons were going through, not knowing whether their loved ones were dead or alive.
Talking about the ongoing corruption trial, Nawaz congratulated his legal team for exposing the ‘bogus’ case. He also reiterated his demand for showing the proceedings live on TV.
Maryam Nawaz asked why was the reason that Nawaz being targeted in accountability trials after all these years?.
Published in Daily Times, April 11th 2018.
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