News Desk |
Former PTV chairperson Attaul Haq Qasmi has said that former information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb framed him in the PTV corruption case. In his interview to Samaa TV, he has opened a new pandora box by alleging that a certain group of PML-N members is trying to.
Qasmi was full of rage towards the PML-N female leader and sighted her as an unsincere person. He blasted Aurangzeb as a liar and accused her of not being faithful to any party. “I have told her this to her face,” he claimed. “She doesn’t know anything or any journalists.
The power struggle was supposed to have ended with the disqualification and subsequent imprisonment of Nawaz and Maryum and the transfer of PML-N leadership to Shahbaz.
She showed me a lot of attitudes,” Qasmi said. “I don’t think Marriyum Aurangzeb is sincere to any political party.” They didn’t find anything against me and eventually forged a case pertaining to the budget of a programme, he alleged. “I will file an appeal against the judgment,” he said.
On November 8, the Supreme Court declared Qasmi’s appointment illegal. The privileges awarded to him are also not according to the law, ruled the court. It also said he is not qualified to work in a government institution.
Meanwhile, the removed PTV chairman was full of praise for another PML-N leader Pervaiz Rashid. Qasmi claimed that former information minister Pervaiz Rasheed is a “great man” for stepping in to save Nawaz Sharif. “People wanted to trap Nawaz in the case, but Rasheed took the responsibility for it.”
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The incident he was referring to was the infamous Memogate scandal in which a concocted altercation between civil and military officials was published in local newspapers. On October 29, 2016, Rasheed resigned from his post after an inquiry was launched to ascertain who was responsible for publishing the fake story.
He further alleged that disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is surrounded by a band of traitors and turncoats. He also alleged that there was a conspiracy afoot within the N League in order to undermine Nawaz Sharif.
Qasmi is often considered to be closer to Nawaz than Shahbaz and his animosity to Marium Aurangzeb could directly be a result of inner PML-N tensions than anything else.
To many observers, the insinuations of Qasmi’s remarks are nothing new. The PML-N has long been party beset by infighting among many groups vying for power. These tensions surfaced again recently with the Panama case that culminated in the dismissal of the PML-N figurehead Nawaz Sharif.
During that time, Chaudry Nisar– a main figure in the intraparty schism almost resigned from politics. Ahsan Iqbal and Chaudry Nisar were already at loggerheads in a verbal spate in July 2017 when Mr. Iqbal took jibes at Nisar’s disagreements with Nawaz Sharif.
Many contend that the Panama crisis was a catalyst and not an origin of these divisions. It can be asserted that such deepening schisms are due to the structure of the party itself. The PML-N is not a monolith but a collection of groups under the aegis of Nawaz Sharif. Major groups in the ruling party are the Maryam Nawaz group, Khwaja Asif group, Shahbaz Sharif group, and Chaudhary Nisar group(now defunct as Nisar left the N League).
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More schisms emerged within the party after the question of transfer of power to the second generation arose. Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz Sharif considers it his right to take over the reins from his elder brother, in which he is supported by his son, Hamza Shahbaz and Punjab’s law minister, Rana Sanaullah. However, he faces opposition in this from his niece and Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz who is trying to succeed her father – and was often considered, the “Heir Apparent”.
The power struggle was supposed to have ended with the disqualification and subsequent imprisonment of Nawaz and Maryum and the transfer of PML-N leadership to Shahbaz. But ironically things took a twist after the elections with Maryum & Nawaz out of jail and Shahbaz being arrested by NAB.
Read more: Impressed by TLP, will PML-N now use violence against Accountability?
Qasmi is often considered to be closer to Nawaz than Shahbaz and his animosity to Marium Aurangzeb could directly be a result of inner PML-N tensions than anything else.