LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad has warned of legal action against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who allegedly met former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa before ousting the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair may be challenged.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Ahmad said that he did not expect Zubair to make such a statement. He said that the former governor of Sindh had said something baseless which could lead to legal consequences.
Zubair, who recently quit PML-N, spoke to a TV channel about the overthrow of the PTI government in 2022. The politician claimed that Nawaz had met Bajwa in London and that there would be no confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran. Hon.
Rejecting the former PML-N leader’s claim, he said Zubair lied about the PML-N president’s meeting with Bajwa in London. Ahmad said, he can get in trouble for saying such things.
“Zubair should reveal the details of the Nawaz-Bajwa meeting. When and where it happened,” he said.
“What talk about meeting Nawaz and Bajwa, they did not talk on the phone,” he said.
Regarding PTI’s demand for the formation of a commission to probe the Sindh governor’s remarks earlier, before going to the judicial panel, Punjab Assembly Speaker Zubair said when the meeting should be held.
Based on the statement of the former PML-N leader, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan on Saturday sought a suo motu notice from the Supreme Court to expel the former ruling party from the government.
Khan, the founder of the PTI, was ousted as prime minister by a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly, which was then led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of opposition parties.
Since then, the former ruling party has continued to accuse the PML-N and its allies of conspiring to topple the Khan government with the help of former army chief Bajwa.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Hasan said Zubair’s words matched Khan’s narrative.
“The confession statement will be reported if it is given in a civilized society,” the PTI leader said.
The former prime minister said that former General (Retd) Bajwa, who was part of the erstwhile PDM alliance when he was removed, has approached the coalition to topple the PTI government.
Quoting Hasan Zubair, the former PML-N leader said party president Nawaz, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz were part of the conspiracy against the PTI regime.
PTI’s central information secretary urged the apex court to take heed of Zubair’s claim and set up an investigation team to probe the allegations.
On the other hand, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui said on Friday that there was no meeting or phone call between former prime minister Nawaz and Bajwa in the last 7 years.
“There was no phone communication between Nawaz Sharif and Bajwa, except for a minute-long sad conversation on the phone about the death of Kulsum Nawaz,” Siddiqui said on X.
According to official sources, there has been no meeting between the two individuals since July 28, 2017, following the decision of the Supreme Court in Panama until now.
