Nothing wrong in maintaining 'cordial ties' with establishment: top PML-N leader

By
Usman Bhatti

November 13, 2023

A supporter of PML-N holds a party flag with images of Shehbaz Sharif and his elder brother and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on April 11, 2022. — AFP
A supporter of PML-N holds a party flag with images of Shehbaz Sharif and his elder brother and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on April 11, 2022. — AFP

  • Establishment plays important role across world: PML-N leader.
  • Says it will take years in promoting politics of tolerance.
  • PML-N senior leader also opposes NAB's modus operandi.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Hamza Shehbaz has said that there is nothing wrong with maintaining "cordial ties" with the establishment.

Speaking to journalists in Lahore on Monday, the PML-N leader said the establishment plays an important role in domestic affairs across the world.

“It's good if the establishment supports any government,” he remarked.

His statement comes as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been raising concerns over “preferential treatment” being given to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif since he returned to the country ending four-year self-imposed exile in London. 

Both the major political parties have claimed that a level-playing field is being denied to them and attempts are being made to pave the way for the PML-N’s return to power ahead of general elections scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024.

In today’s interaction, the PML-N central leader said the upcoming general elections will be the most difficult in the country’s history.

He called upon all political parties to unite to work for the economy’s betterment. “We have to control dollar and petrol rates.”

Hamza also stressed the need for promoting politics of tolerance saying it will take many years to eliminate intolerance from the country’s political landscape.

He also opposed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) modus operandi while calling for eradicating the menace of corruption.

Earlier today, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took a jibe at his political opponents, saying the people would respond “to them who are getting their election results made while sitting in the room”.

Last week, Bilawal said that his party parted ways with the PML-N after the former ruling party compromised on its narrative of the "sanctity of the vote".

"As long as the PML-N's narrative [remained] vote ko izzat do (give respect to vote), we worked alongside but when this narrative changed, staying together became difficult," he had said.