Ruling party evolves strategy to question those targeting PM

• PML-N not to accept “minus-one formula”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided not to accept the minus-one formula in case the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif emerges out of the JIT report. The party leadership has decided to take other political parties into confidence over a “conspiracy brewing” against the prime minister.

A well-placed source in the ruling party told Pakistan Today that the party leadership feels that a conspiracy is being targeted at the prime minister for ulterior motives but the party would fight out to defeat any such plan.

“You know this is not the first time that a minus-one formula has emerged. It was against Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari, Altaf Hussain and now Nawaz Sharif. Some powers want to expel all top politicians so they could play around with minnows,” the source added.

“We have sufficient evidence to ascertain the fact that a conspiracy is being hatched. First, a WhatsApp call was detected to include specific persons into the JIT. Then evidence came to the fore to prove that the JIT members only sign the investigation papers and that the original investigation is being done somewhere else. Then there is evidence suggesting that ISI was managing the security of the JIT proceedings. All these facts were never contradicted or challenged,” the source said.

The source said that the ruling party has devised a political strategy to thwart the game plan against the prime minister.

Asked to elaborate the political strategy, the source said that the ruling party would directly attack those who are playing a role in the plan against Sharif.

“We will directly target the JIT members; those judges who used terms like Sicilian Mafia and Godfather and the elements in the establishment who want to throw the PM out,” the source said.

Asked to elaborate more, the source said that as the biggest political party of the country, the PML-N wants to mobilise its workers so they could not be isolated and disappointed.

“We would discredit those JIT members who have targeted the premier. Since we don’t expect justice from them, we would discredit them. Moreover, we would also target the establishment too,” he added.

He said that the ruling party’s legal team would raise technical questions to discredit those who have been targeting the prime minister.

Meanwhile, PM Nawaz Sharif was briefed on Sunday about the possible legal scenarios following the Joint Investigation Team’s submission of a report to the three-member Supreme Court bench today.

A well-placed source told Pakistan Today that the meeting covered all possible angles of the report while the legal team, led by lead counsel, Khawaja Haris also detailed the available legal options with the PM and his family.