LAHORE: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, has rubbished the rumors of her father’s self-exile, said the report is just a ‘self-created lie’. In her tweet on Sunday, Maryam stated that exile will be the fate of military dictators and non-democratic characters, not of representatives elected by the people. A spokesperson of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also contradicted as a speculative news report published in national and international press that Sharif was negotiating any deal with Saudi Arabia to avoid accountability. Nawaz Sharif is visiting Saudi Arabia due to his longstanding relations with the Saudi royal family as well as being the head of the ruling party, a press release issued on Sunday stated. He has always utilized these relations for the national interest and never for his personal benefits, the spokesperson said. Despite the fact that Nawaz Sharif believed that he was innocent, he promptly resigned after a decision by the apex court, the spokesperson emphasized. There is no ban on the movement of Nawaz Sharif and, therefore, the question of seeking any permission does not arise, he maintained.
Published in Daily Times, January 1st 2018.