Lahore, Mar 13 (PTI) A close aide of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has admitted that the PML-N party-led government at the Centre is a mere “puppet,” indirectly indicating that the military establishment is running the government it had stitched.
There has been no reaction from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Mian Javed Latif, a stalwart from Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N and a former federal minister, told a private TV channel on Tuesday that his party failed to secure even a simple majority in the National Assembly in the February 8 general elections.
“They (the military establishment) stitched a government by collecting seats of National Assembly from here and there. You may call it a government of PML-N or some other party but as a matter of fact, it is a puppet government and everyone knows who has the real power,” Latif said.
“Whosoever is running this government, the PML-N will have to bear the brunt of their (establishment) policies at the end of the day,” he added.
This is the first time that a senior leader of the ruling party openly admitted that the six-party government led by PML-N is a “puppet setup” installed by the military.
Independents backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 92 seats in the February polls while the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) both secured fewer seats than that.
The PML-N then entered into a quid pro quo post-poll alliance with the Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and four smaller parties. The arrangement ensured that PML-N got the prime ministerial post (Shehbaz Sharif) while PPP got the President’s (Asif Ali Zardari).
On the other hand, a majority of the independents, backed by PTI, joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The powers that be allotted the reserved seats meant for the PTI-SIC party to PML-N and PPP enabling the alliance to garner a clear majority in the National Assembly and form the government.
The PML-N has been facing the question of legitimacy as Imran Khan and PTI have accused the powerful military establishment of stealing its mandate in the February 8 polls and imposing a puppet government led by Shehbaz Sharif.
Imran Khan has already termed the outcome of the elections as the ‘Mother of All Rigging’ polls.
In its 75-plus years of existence, Pakistan has been directly or indirectly ruled by the powerful military establishment. Meanwhile, during the talk show, the anchor, who too looked surprised at Latif’s comments, asked him to confirm and yet again Latif repeated the same allegation.
The anchor then asked him if he was venting out his anger now because he had not been elected in the last month’s elections, Latif said, he was speaking the truth.
Latif spoke on a range of issues. On Wednesday, he ran small clips of the programme on his X handle along with his comments for each of them.
Almost 24 hours after his interview was broadcast, there has been no reaction from the party or the establishment as yet. PTI MZ NPK AKJ NPK NPK
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