Maryam Nawaz lashes at Imran, asks why he assumed office if wasn't prepared

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday ripped into the government, asking why Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office when he was not prepared for the challenges.

Addressing the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) 'Mehangai March' in Mardan here, she said: "Before the election, [the prime minister] used to say that he has a team of 200 fantastic individuals. Where is that 200-person team now?" Dawn reported.

"Ministers in his cabinet play musical chairs with each other [...] but that 200 person team is nowhere to be seen in Pakistan," she said.

"He says that he was unaware about the country's power issues, external debt, the current account deficit, and didn't know how to run the government and was not prepared." However, you were prepared for the sugar, wheat and LNG scams through which you stole from the people's pockets, she said.

Maryam's comments come a day after Prime Minister Khan said that never should a new government come to power without doing its homework and getting briefings.

During today's rally, Maryam said that coronavirus patients had died at Khyber Teaching Hospital after there was a delay in procuring oxygen cylinders. "You were not prepared to provide medical services, but you were prepared to raise the prices of medicines?"

She added that the premier was prepared to throw the sisters and daughters of his opponents in jail but was prepared to give an NRO to his sister.

You were not prepared to work on our foreign policy but were prepared to surrender Kashmir to India, she said. "You had zero preparation to run the government but were fully prepared to be obedient. After two-and-a-half years, you still don't know how to govern but you know how to be obedient very well."

The PDM held a rally in Mardan against Prime Minister Khan-led government, threatening him to quit by January 31 or face intensified movements by opposition parties such as a long march to Islamabad.

In the past months, Khan has stepped up his efforts to silence the voice of the PDM, along with thousands of people, who criticised the government.

Despite such attempts, the PDM has held five such rallies in Multan, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Karachi, and Quetta since October 16.