Lahore: Pakistan’s ruling party PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz has alleged that ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan was so desperate to remain in power that he asked the army to save his government. Begged ‘begging’ till the minute. For more than half of Pakistan’s 75-year history, the country has been ruled by the military, with the potential for a coup d’état. Along with this, the army is also interfering a lot in matters of security and foreign policy.
However, the army had recently distanced itself from the political conflict between Shahbaz Sharif and Khan, saying it had nothing to do with politics. “Imran Khan was so desperate that he had begged the army to save his government till the last moment,” Maryam said at a workers’ conference in Lahore late on Tuesday. He even requested help from former President and PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari in view of the no-confidence motion moved against him. He was removed from the post of Prime Minister and he became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to be deposed by Parliament.
Maryam has been tasked with holding rallies by her father and three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. She has been holding several rallies, especially in Punjab to counter Imran Khan’s public show of power. Several corruption cases were initiated against Nawaz Sharif by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government led by Imran Khan. In November 2019, Nawaz Sharif was flown to London after the Lahore High Court allowed him to go abroad. Now the new PML(N)-led coalition government recently issued Sharif a new passport, making his return to the country possible. However, the Sharif family has announced that a decision on the return of Nawaz Sharif will be taken at an appropriate time.
