Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday said that the government’s entire functioning was based on lies and it was propagating politics of hatred and arrogance.

The PML-N leader gave this statement after party President Shehbaz Sharif returned to the country.

PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said that politics should not be done on Shehbaz Sharif’s health and he could again go abroad due to health-related issues.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “days of ease” were numbered, as Shehbaz Sharif had returned. She said the premier could no longer make people fool on the basis of a fake narrative. She said Shehbaz’s return meant that “the leeway given to Imran Khan has ended and his time to worry now begins”. “The fear of Shehbaz’s return has made the prime minister hide in the mountains, while his spokespersons are dead silent.” She further said that Shehbaz was one of those alleviating the condition of the country, and that the public loved him.

In a separate statement, PML-N Senator Asif Kirmani said that the warm welcome given to Shehbaz had horrified the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership.

He said that Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif were a political fact that could not be denied.

He said that the rulers didn’t want Shehbaz to return home, but he came back against their desires, due to which they were terrified. Kirmani was of the view that the opposition leader would hold the government accountable for its failures.

Shehbaz returned to the country early Sunday after spending seven weeks in London for medical treatment, as he was cleared to travel by his doctors.

After landing in Pakistan, Shehbaz went to Jati Umra to meet his mother and offered prayers at the family graveyard. According to the sources, he also held a detailed meeting with party’s Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif and inquired about the health condition of her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Both the leaders also discussed the possible all parties conference (APC) of the opposition parties over the political situation of the country. Maryam also briefed him on her meeting with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at an Iftar dinner arranged by the PPP leader. Later, briefing the media, Amir Muqam, who also attended the meeting, said that both the leaders discussed the movement against the government and deteriorating political and economic situation of the country.

“The protest is not an issue of any political party but it is an issue of the masses and therefore the PML-N is looking forward to it,” he said. According to reports, Shehbaz would also chair the joint meeting of parliamentary group today (Monday) in the National Assembly to draft a strategy for the upcoming budget to be presented on Tuesday. He would also chair the meeting of the PML-N Economic Advisory Council on Wednesday to prepare proposals and recommendations on budget.