LAHORE: In a hard-hitting speech at an election rally in Khanewal on Friday, PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz Sharif challenged her political opponents over their claims of not having a level playing field.

“Those who demand a level playing field should come and compete and not run away,” she said while addressing the rally.

She defended her father, Nawaz Sharif, and the party against the accusations of causing inflation, pointing to the large turnout at the rally as evidence that the public does not blame her father for the country’s economic woes.

She recalled the widespread rigging in 2018 and praised the “lions of Khanewal” [the voters] for not voting for another party.

PML-N leader rejects complaints about lack of level playing field

She also highlighted the “controversial remo­val” of her father from power in 2017, stating that “it was necessary to shut down RTS to defeat him” in the 2018 elections.

The PML-N leader was referring to the state-of-the-art Result Trans­mission System, which abruptly stopped late at night on July 25, 2018, thus halting the transmission of results.

She denied that her father ever incited “attacks on national institutions”.

While criticising PTI leader Imran Khan, Ms Sharif said her father “had nothing to do with Mr Khan’s current situation” and that he has “left the matter to Allah”.

She accused Mr Khan of inciting the youth to attack sensitive installations, resulting in them facing jail.

Ms Sharif reiterated her father is not seeking revenge despite false accusations “levelled against us by our political rivals”.

She made these remarks a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called the Sharif family “vindictive”.

In an interview with DawnNewsTV programme News Eye, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said: “They [PML-N leaders] aren’t the ones to forgive. They harbour animosity, seek revenge and balance scores at the right time. They only know the politics of revenge. This is their history.”

However, Ms Sharif added that PML-N leaders and workers remained committed to the party during difficult times.

“Good and bad times are very part of politics, but the PML-N has not left the field and is always ready to serve the masses with a renewed zeal.”

Talking about her personal difficulties, she shared that she was informed about the death of her mother in Adiala Jail, but the support she has always received from the party and the people “increased my determination to serve the people”.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024