PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday expressed her unwavering support for her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, claiming that those plotting against him were now unable to show their faces in public.
Addressing a gathering of the party’s student organisation, the Muslim Student Federation (MSF), she recalled the moment of her arrest in front of Nawaz Sharif himself, revealing the turmoil he felt. “Despite his emotions, he advised me to stay calm and composed.”
Maryam Nawaz discussed the challenges she faced during her legal battles, emphasising her innocence.
She recounted the ordeal of having to appear before courts. She declared that she stood by her father’s side in his testing times, regardless of anyone else’s support. “Those who tried to make me weak will witness how I become your strength, by the grace of God.”
Not sparing criticism for the five-member bench Supreme Court responsible for her father’s disqualification, Maryam Nawaz took a jibe at their decision and referred to it as the “iqama bench” that God will not forgive, even if she could find it in her heart to do so.
Blaming the apex court bench for recent inflation and economic turmoil, she highlighted the negative impact it had on the people of Pakistan who struggled to make ends meet.
The PML-N vice president also reiterated Nawaz Sharif’s imminent return to Pakistan on October 21, referring to it as a new ray of hope for the nation.
She credited her father as the driving force behind Pakistan’s status as a nuclear power, claiming that all the nation’s plans were the brainchildren of Nawaz Sharif, and she challenged anyone to produce one plan belonging to PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
She lauded the achievements of the PML-N government, saying that the people of Peshawar now had access to a metro bus system, which she stated was a project initiated by her party.
She contrasted the dire state of the country when the PML-N took office in 2013 – with extensive load-shedding of up to 20 hours and a worrisome growth rate of 1 per cent – to the positive impact of Nawaz Sharif’s three-year tenure, where load-shedding was eliminated and the growth rate rose to 6.1 per cent.