MNA Ayesha Gulalai has claimed that the ruling PML-N had offered her a ticket for the upcoming Senate elections, but she turned down the proposal as it came with the requirement that she speak ill of the country’s armed forces.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament House, the dissident leader alleged that the Sharif family has an agenda against the judiciary and the army, which she termed the “only institution” working for the country.
“Talking against institutions is tantamount to treason in my view,” she said, adding that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif appeared even more “dangerous” to her than her former boss, PTI chairman Imran Khan, whom she had last year accused of harassment.
“Imran Khan is an emotional man who shoots himself in the foot — [but] this man [Nawaz] is a cunning man who strikes the army and judiciary with the axe,” she said.
“Does Nawaz Sharif think it is okay for the judiciary to hold others accountable, but he should never be touched? she asked.
Gulalai alleged that the PML-N had urged her to malign the armed forces in exchange for a ticket for the March 3 Senate polls, but refused the offer as it violated her sense of patriotism.
She alleged that Sharif had been using “shameful” language to target the same army that had been tackling external and internal challenges faced by Pakistan and losing lives along the way.
Downplaying the PML-N victory in the NA-154 by-poll in Lodhran, she said the ruling party had won the elections because the people of the area “had no options”.
Gulalai then turned her guns on her former party, saying the PTI had faced defeat in the NA-154 by-elections due to its “politics of corruption”. PTI has swayed away from its original vision, she further said.
The PML-N has decided to take legal action against Gulalai over her allegations against the party and Nawaz Sharif, a party spokesman said.
Gulalai’s allegations are “shameful, laughable, baseless and based on falsehood”, the spokesman said, challenging her to name to the person who according to her had offered her a ticket for the Senate elections.
Earlier, while responding to Gulalai’s allegations, PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan in a statement said she had no significant role in the country’s political arena that would merit her being offered a Senate elections ticket.
“Gulalai should first raise herself to a level in politics that would merit the PML-N offering her a ticket,” he said.
Mushahidullah brushed off Gulalai’s accusations, saying that the PML-N has a queue of prominent people waiting to be awarded tickets for the elections.
Alleging that Gulalai’s only claim to fame was the scandal surrounding inappropriate text messages allegedly sent to her by Imran Khan, the PML-N leader claimed that Gulalai was “playing in the hands of the same people as Imran Khan, [PAT chief] Tahirul Qadri and [AML chief] Sheikh Rashid”.
