Nawaz, Shahbaz not on same page over removing Zardari

In a stark revelation and an apparent backtracking from its stance, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday said it had nothing to do with the “Go Zardari Go” campaign because party chief Nawaz Sharif never launched any such campaign as generally believed, “instead he unleashed a plan of protest rallies against inflation, corruption and load shedding”.
Denying link between the PML-N’s Bhaati Chowk rally and Imran Khan’s procession at Minar-e-Pakistan, the PML-N turned down the impression that the PTI and PML-N had common stance towards the Taliban, adding that Imran Khan was an agent of the establishment. “The PML-N protest rally at Bhaati Chowk on October 28 had a big flex hoarding behind the dice which carried four slogans — load shedding, corruption, overpricing and terrorism — and this showed that the protest rally had no association with Go Zardari Go campaign,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said in a Saama TV talk show hosted by Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami. To a question, Sana clarified that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s speech at Bhaati Chowk was a reflection of his personal opinion about Zardari and had no relation with party policy. However, giving benefit of doubt to the CM on his derogatory words against Zardari, he said words like “Al Tahrir Square” and “hanging some people upside down” were idiomatic. “Shahbaz believes in the rule of law and used them symbolically,” he added. Citing 2008, when Nawaz Sharif and Zardari were finalising the accord of Bhurban agreement, Sana said Nawaz sought Shahbaz’s point of view about Zardari through a paper chit and Shahbaz termed Zardari a liar and not trustworthy even then. However, the law minister said Nawaz hammered the deal to save the system.

“So it is an established fact that Shahbaz has his own specific opinion about Zardari,” he added.
To another query for calling Imran Khan as “Pagal [insane] Khan”, he said the contents of Imran’s speech were disappointing. “Imran warned of launching a civil disobedience movement if politicians did not declare their assets. Imran focused on politicians. What about judges, army generals and bureaucrats and others. It is a startling fact that Imran, who claims to be a mature politician, does not know that already there is a law applied by the Elections Commission of Pakistan on politicians for declaring their assets and per the law, politicians used to declare their assets each year,” he said, adding that such statements forced him to call Imran insane.
Calling Imran a cat’s paw of the establishment, Sana said the PTI and MQM processions were masterminded by the establishment.
“MQM chief Altaf Hussain, known for his long speeches, cut short his address to 30 minutes to facilitate Imran, who in return waited for Altaf’ address to conclude,” he added. “We also have doubts over the fact that only the establishment could make Imran’s show a success and this was what happened on October 30 at Minar-e-Pakistan,” he added. The law minister said Imran staged sit-ins whenever establishment needed him to do so to intensify pressure on the US.