‘Why the yardstick applied in iqama case not employed on Niazi services?’
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2025-02-18 05:19:00
ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Ms Marriyum talking to the media here Monday after the inauguration of the photo exhibition “Colours of Korea” at the Rawalpindi Arts Council posed a question as to why the yardstick applied in iqama case was not employed on Niazi Services Limited?
She said that when double standards were applied in law it tended to invoke critical voices and that was why the people, lawyers, constitutional experts and analysts criticized the decision to exonerate Imran Khan. The decision in Imran’s case had negated the barometer adopted in the Panama case, she added.
The minister said that Muhammad Nawaz Sharif neither owned any off-shore company nor was a director, shareholder and beneficial owner of any company. She said that on the one hand Nawaz Sharif was disqualified on the basis of “iqama” and on the other Imran was exonerated in spite of having admitted that he established Niazi Services Limited and purchased the London flat.
Marriyum reiterated that the 28th July decision had triggered instability in the country. She said that raising a voice in self-defence did not tantamount to confrontation with the state institutions.
She said that the PML-N had fulfilled all its promises with the masses and where ever one went in the provinces the work done by the PML-N government was quite visible. She said that the development projects from Gilgit to Karachi were a ranting testimony to the progress orchestrated by the PML-N government. She said that even in Punjab since 2013 or before that Shahbaz Sharif as Chief Minister had stood up to all the pledges that he made whether related to public transport or projects of public welfare.
The minister said that Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had taken upon himself the responsibility to restore the sanctity of vote and it looked a real possibility in the near future. She said that the PML-N was the largest political party of the country and people voted for it in the name of Nawaz Sharif. She said that their leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had taught them the politics of performance and the party would win franchise of the people on the basis of its performance in the 2018 elections.
Responding to a question, she said that whatever statements were given were a sequel to the voices raised by the people and the civil society. The consequences of the 28th July decision were visible to the entire nation and if the elected government was given the epithet of Sicilian Mafia then the reaction on it was a natural outcome, she added.
She said that looking at the things in the context of history it transpired that whenever pressure was exerted on the institutions the law of necessity was also invented.
The minister emphatically said that when Nawaz Sharif assumed power the country had steeped in darkness and today the country was producing surplus power and a mega-economic project like CPEC had been initiated. She asserted that as a result of the measures taken in conformity with the vision of the former prime minister and the sacrifices rendered by the armed forces and the law enforcing agencies peace had been restored in the country.
She said that now they were talking about promotion of culture, heritage and revival of film industry, which was only possible during the PML-N government. She said that the development done by Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was visible all over the country adding that Prime Minister Khaqan Abbassi was making relentless efforts for the speedy completion of all the development ventures.
Published in Daily Times, December 19th 2017.
