MARDAN: PML-N’s senior vice president, Mohtarma Maryam Nawaz, harangued out at the premier whilst addressing a Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ‘Mehangai March’ in Mardan on Wednesday saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “respect” remained intact despite his failings because of his ‘exceptional obedience”.
Referring to the premier’s recent television address, the PML-N leader said: “PM Khan, after playing with the lives of 220 million people has finally admitted that he wasn’t prepared to lead the government.”
PM Khan, addressing a “performance agreements’ ceremony” on Tuesday, had said that he had no time to prepare before assuming his office and he spent the first three months learning how to run the country.
“So, if you know you weren’t prepared enough to lead the country, then tell the people of Mardan why you were in such a hurry to wear a sherwani,” Maryam said, in reference to a prime minister’s official dress code.
She accused the government of not having a qualified team to manage Pakistan’s affairs. “Did he not say before the elections he has a fantastic team of 200 people? […] all we see are cabinet members playing musical chairs, swapping ministries all the time,” she remarked.
Further firing tanuts at the premier, the PML-N leader added that after two and a half years of the “gift that is Imran Khan”, after “ruining the lives” of 220 million people, today the prime minister told the people of Mardan that “he did not know” of the energy problems in the country, of the circular debts, of the current account deficit, or running the country.
“You were not prepared to run the country but you were fully prepared to rob the people of Rs400bn of sugar,” she added.
She also accused the premier of being “fully prepared” to give NRO to his sister Aleema Khan.
You were not prepared to work on our foreign policy but were prepared to surrender Kashmir to India, the PML-N leader said, as she continued to heap scorn on the government. “You had zero preparation to run the government but were fully prepared to be obedient. After two-and-a-half years, you still don’t know how to govern but you know how to be obedient very well.”
You [PM Imran Khan] were not prepared to run the country, but to rob Rs22bn in the LNG scam,” she said. “You were not prepared to give the youth 10 million jobs, but you were prepared to reward your friends with lucrative jobs,” she added.
During today’s rally, Maryam said that coronavirus patients had died at Khyber Teaching Hospital after there was a delay in procuring oxygen cylinders. “You were not prepared to deliver good healthcare, but were prepared to jack up medicine prices by 500%,” she said.
The PML-N vice president, in further criticism, said that “a poor man’s house and shop is often razed to the ground by the government but the Bani Gala palace was regularised in two days”.
“He says that he is not afraid of the PDM and will now bow before it,” she concluded, taunting the prime minister by saying that only the one who stands can take a bow.
Maryam also urged the masses to answer the call for a long march to Islamabad to send the government packing.
Maryam leads large convoy of PML-N workers to Mardan’s ‘Mehngai March’
Earlier today, PDM leaders arrived in Mardan to hold a rally that was dubbed the ‘Mehangai March’. The caravans of the opposition leaders passed through various areas of the city before convening on Nowshera Road, where they addressed participants.
The PDM went ahead with the rally despite the district administration denying them permission due to a rise in coronavirus cases. Maryam, who had left for Mardan earlier today, called the demonstration a “huge rally” and said Mardan was “choked”.
She was also pleased to see the response of Opposition workers who received her upon arrival.
“It is beautiful and heartwarming to see workers of the ANP and the JUI-F receive and greet me with the same affection as the PML-N,” she tweeted with a video showing PDM supporters showering her car’s windshield with rose petals.
She added that the way “people have come out in throngs and multitudes showed how sick they are of non-stop mehngayi and bad governance”.
Earlier today, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said that the “opportunistic groups” in the PDM have different and separate directions.
“The people running a movement against the government are facing movements against themselves,” he said. He added that those who prioritise their personal interests will gain nothing except humiliation. He said the chaotic politics of the opposition will not do the country or the people any good.
