Daily Times

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz has claimed that former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa also had sought an extension from her father and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

Maryam made the claim in an exclusive interview with a private TV channel. “Place your hand on the Quran and tell [the world] was your extension as the chief justice not being talked about?” she asked, addressing Khosa. “If Nawaz Sharif sahab had agreed, and he (Khosa) would have gotten an extension, then Umar Ata Bandial would not be the [current] chief justice.”

She said there were even talks of increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, which she claimed was for Justice (retd) Khosa’s benefit. Maryam said that a delegation had conveyed the then chief justice’s message to Nawaz, who was in jail at the time, adding that the PML-N supremo had refused to grant an extension.

During the interview, Maryam also spoke about former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid and said that he had “confessed” to his crime. Maryam defined Gen Hamid’s remarks to a journalist as “confession of his crime”, adding: “If he has accepted it and confessed to it, then the institution of the armed forces [should] itself take notice because his confessional statement has come.” Calling Gen Hamid a “stigma” blighting the army, Maryam expressed the hope that the institution itself would carry hold him accountable.

During the interview, Maryam was also asked about the death of a PTI worker during a crackdown in Lahore a day ago on those participating in the party’s rally following the imposition of Section 144. “The incident that happened a political worker lost their life and I am utterly saddened by this,” she said, adding that she had also offered her condolences to the deceased’s family members and loved ones.

Meanwhile, addressing the party’s youth wing in Lahore on Thursday, Maryam questioned what kind of leader hid inside his house and pushed forward youths to be beaten up. She made this comment in reference to the PTI’s rally on Wednesday that was called off shortly after, and where party activists were baton-charged.

She claimed that youths and children were used as fuel for the rally, while the leader stayed at home. The PML-N leader questioned who will be responsible for the life lost during the event.

She stressed that the country will progress only when there is justice. An individual is brazenly creating chaos in the country, she claimed, adding there was no one to question him.