NAB Summons Maryam Nawaz in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has once again summoned PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz for questioning in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

Daughter of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been asked to turn up at the NAB Lahore office on March 26. They said she will be quizzed in light of the new evidence the bureau has received.

The sources said the PML-N leader faces charges of alleged involvement in money laundering.

The national graft buster had summoned Maryam last year in August but cancelled her hearing after clash erupted between PML-N supporters and the police personnel outside the bureau’s Lahore office ahead of her arrival there.

It is noteworthy that the NAB has also moved a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking cancellation of her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case for not cooperating with the NAB in its investigation against her.

A two-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Giral heard the plea and issued a notice to Maryam to file her response to the bail cancellation plea by next hearing.

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Pakistan records 2,351 coronavirus cases, 61 deaths in 24 hours

Pakistan has recorded 61 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 13,656, reported on Wednesday.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 61 more lives and 2,351 fresh infections were reported during the said period.
The total count of active cases is 22,792.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 2,853 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,978 patients are still in critical condition including 83 new cases.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 612,315.

A total of 38,799 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 575,867 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,603,865 samples have been tested thus far.

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Pakistan records 2,351 coronavirus cases, 61 deaths in 24 hours

Pakistan has recorded 61 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 13,656, reported on Wednesday.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 61 more lives and 2,351 fresh infections were reported during the said period.
The total count of active cases is 22,792.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 2,853 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,978 patients are still in critical condition including 83 new cases.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 612,315.

A total of 38,799 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 575,867 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,603,865 samples have been tested thus far.

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Zardari apologises to Maryam over remarks about Nawaz in PDM meeting

PPP President Asif Ali Zardari apologised to PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday during a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

The meeting of the opposition alliance had been convened to discuss the contentious issue of mass resignations from assemblies. During the meeting, Zardari spoke at length to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif via videoconferencing and urged him to return to Pakistan if he is ready to wage a war against the government.

According to PPP sources, Zardari later apologised to Maryam, to which Maryam responded by saying: "It was never my intent to have you apologise. I merely considered myself a daughter to you and complained like Bakhtawar or Aseefa would."

Maryam had said that her father's "life is in danger" and questioned how he can return under the circumstances.

She had asked: "Does Zardari sahab guarantee that my father's life will not be in danger in Pakistan?"

Maryam then reportedly said that she is in Pakistan "of her own accord".

"Just like you are on video link, so is Mian sahab," she added.

She said that Nawaz's life is "threatened under NAB's custody" and that he had had "two heart attacks while in jail".

The PML-N vice president, according to sources, said that her party, despite being the "largest in Pakistan" had supported PDM. She said PML-N had followed all decisions made by the platform and even aided in their implementation.

"The entire PML-N voted for Yousuf Raza Gillani (in the Senate elections)," Maryam said.

She said that when PPP expressed their opposition to resignations, PML-N supported them to avoid any differences in opinion.

Maryam said she had witnessed her father going to 150 appearances before National Accountability Bureau and recalled how she had been arrested in front of her father.

"My father left my mother on her death bed and came back to Pakistan," she added.

Maryam later said that they must let bygones be bygones and bury the matter.

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Zardari apologises to Maryam over remarks about Nawaz in PDM meeting

PPP President Asif Ali Zardari apologised to PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday during a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

The meeting of the opposition alliance had been convened to discuss the contentious issue of mass resignations from assemblies. During the meeting, Zardari spoke at length to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif via videoconferencing and urged him to return to Pakistan if he is ready to wage a war against the government.

According to PPP sources, Zardari later apologised to Maryam, to which Maryam responded by saying: "It was never my intent to have you apologise. I merely considered myself a daughter to you and complained like Bakhtawar or Aseefa would."

Maryam had said that her father's "life is in danger" and questioned how he can return under the circumstances.

She had asked: "Does Zardari sahab guarantee that my father's life will not be in danger in Pakistan?"

Maryam then reportedly said that she is in Pakistan "of her own accord".

"Just like you are on video link, so is Mian sahab," she added.

She said that Nawaz's life is "threatened under NAB's custody" and that he had had "two heart attacks while in jail".

The PML-N vice president, according to sources, said that her party, despite being the "largest in Pakistan" had supported PDM. She said PML-N had followed all decisions made by the platform and even aided in their implementation.

"The entire PML-N voted for Yousuf Raza Gillani (in the Senate elections)," Maryam said.

She said that when PPP expressed their opposition to resignations, PML-N supported them to avoid any differences in opinion.

Maryam said she had witnessed her father going to 150 appearances before National Accountability Bureau and recalled how she had been arrested in front of her father.

"My father left my mother on her death bed and came back to Pakistan," she added.

Maryam later said that they must let bygones be bygones and bury the matter.

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PDM puts off long march as PPP seeks time to respond on resignations

The Pakistan Democratic Movement's long march scheduled for March 26 has been postponed amid a difference of opinion on the issue of resignations from assemblies alongside the protest.

A meeting of senior leaders of the PDM was held on Tuesday, after which Maulana Fazlur Rehman briefed the media on the outcome of deliberations held between the opposition parties.

Fazlur Rehman said that the main bone of contention between the alliance, the matter of a long march alongside mass resignations from assemblies, was discussed today.

He said that PPP expressed their reservations over the two being linked and have sought time to respond.

"They will hold a meeting of the Central Executive Committee and will get back to us," he said.

"Until then, the long march must be considered postponed," he said.

The PDM chief then abruptly left the gathering, leaving PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz to address the conference, flanked by PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani.

Maryam said that she does not wish for speculations to rise so will not be speaking about the time sought by PPP.

She spoke, however, of PPP President Asif Ali Zardari's remarks whereby he had asked Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan and reportedly said to him that the party's resignations will only be handed in when he comes back.

Maryam denied such an exchange having taken place, saying: "No, that is not what he said. He simply said that Mian sahab you must come back and so must everyone else so we can struggle together."

She said to this, she responded "very respectfully" by saying that Nawaz's return to Pakistan "would be tantamount to handing his life over to killers which neither do the PML-N leaders want or the party's vote bank".

"And neither do the people of Pakistan want this because the people invest in their leaders. People want leaders who are alive and well," she said.

Maryam said that since she is much younger than the PPP president, she very respectfully added that "Mian sahab's struggle and sacrifices are known to everyone and in this brutal and vengeful tenure of the incumbent government he spent the longest and harshest sentence in jail".

She said that "even while knowing that it is revenge" he left his ailing wife behind in London and came back with his daughter to Pakistan to face a jail term "in a false case".

"He bravely served time in jail, even suffered heart attacks but bore them courageously. The government began to panic when his life was in danger and they sent him abroad.

"But now that he is abroad and is not fully well, as a daughter, I believe no one has the right to call him back. I do not think that after God's mercy, when his life has been spared, it should be handed back to these killers," Maryam said.

She said that the "government will be dissolved, InshaAllah" and insisted a "united PDM" stands before the media.

Maryam said that although Nawaz is abroad, his party is the most active in the country. "The entire party is united under his leadership, standing firm and fighting. I am Nawaz Sharif's representative. Whosoever wishes to speak to him must first speak with me," she added.

Gillani, taking over the briefing, said that he and his party had thanked everyone for the support during the Senate elections, in which he had defeated government-backed candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaik for the general seat from Islamabad.

He said the March 26 long march had been "bracketed with the resignations" over which PPP has simply sought some time to consult the Central Executive Committee, as it had originally expressed reservations against the move.

Gillani said the PPP had said to PDM: "If you want us to hand in resignations, give us some time. We will go back to the CEC, take their approval and get back to you."

He said that the CEC has previously expressed the view that the opposition's move should come from the parliament.

"Under the new scenario, the PDM leadership has unanimously told the PPP to approach the CEC," Gillani said.

He added that the decision will be announced "soon".

Speaking of the opposition's decision to challenge the Senate chairman elections due to seven votes cast in his favour being rejected by the presiding officer, Gillani said that "he himself said go to the courts".

"We will go to the courts, we will get relief and we get the chairmanship and it will be a victory for all of PDM," he said.

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If you are ready for war, you must come back to Pakistan: Zardari to Nawaz

PPP President and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari held a long video conference with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday, in which according to sources, the PPP leader urged the PML-N leader to come back to Pakistan.

"Nawaz Sharif sahab, if you are prepared to fight a war, you will have to return to your country," sources within the PPP quoted Zardari as saying.

"If we all are out to fight, then we must all be prepared to go to jail," Zardari further said to Nawaz.

The conversation between the two leaders was held during a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

The PDM leaders are sitting together in the federal capital to review the political situation in the country after the recently-held Senate polls and by-elections, which, according to them, have shaken the ruling party.

The contentious point of the agenda is the resignation from assemblies which has put the PPP at loggerheads with PML-N and the JUI-F who had been calling to resign from the parliament since December. The PPP, however, has been convincing them to opt for an in-house change and use the resignation strategy as a “last resort”.

According to the sources, Zardari told Nawaz that "whether it is the long march or a no-confidence motion, you will have to come to Pakistan".

"I am ready for war but my domicile is different [...] Mian sahab, you represent Punjab" sources further quoted Zardari as saying.

Zardari also discussed at length the measures he took during his presidency, the sources said.

"I gave powers to the parliament and approved the NFC (National Finance Commission Award) for which my party and I were punished," he said.

Zardari said the PPP "is ready to fight until its last breath", also citing how he had spent 14 years of his life in jail.

The PPP leader also reportedly questioned how Nawaz plans on solving the people's problems.

"You never increased people's wages in your tenure, whereas I increased them," sources quoted Zardari as telling Nawaz.

Speaking of resignations from the assemblies, Zardari said that the move is tantamount to "strengthening Imran Khan's position".

The PPP co-chairman also said that no decision that sets the parties off on divergent paths must be made.

"Any differences between us will only serve the interests of those who are enemies of democracy," he said.

Zardari, according to sources, said: "We do not fight from the mountains. We fight from within the parliament."

The sources said that the PPP leader told the PML-N surpremo: "Mian sahab if you want en masse resignations then not only us, everyone will have to go to jail."

According to PPP sources, Zardari said that it is "not the first time that democratic forces have witnessed rigging".

"We mobilised the entire nation when Benazir returned to Pakistan in 1986 and then in 2007," Zardari said, according to sources.

The long march will have to be organised in the same manner as our preparations in 1986 and 2007, he said.

"The struggle against the establishment must carry on for democratic stability," he added.

Zardari urged Nawaz to return to Pakistan along with Ishaq Dar. "We will then all fight together," he said.

He said that while the other Opposition parties contested the Senate elections, Ishaq Dar did not even come to cast his vote.

"When you return to Pakistan, we will hand over our resignations to you," Zardari added.

Sources said that amid all the insistence by the PPP co-chairman for Nawaz to return, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that her father's "life is in danger" and questioned how he can return under the circumstances.

Sources said that she asked: "Does Zardari sahab guarantee that my father's life will not be in danger in Pakistan?"

Maryam then reportedly said that she is in Pakistan "of her own accord".

"Just like you are on video link, so is Mian sahab," she added.

She said that Nawaz's life is "threatened under NAB's custody" and that he had had "two heart attacks while in jail".

The PML-N vice president, according to sources, said that her party, despite being the "largest in Pakistan" had supported PDM. She said PML-N had followed all decisions made by the platform and even aided in their implementation.

"The entire PML-N voted for Yousuf Raza Gillani (in the Senate elections)," Maryam said.

She said that when PPP expressed their opposition to resignations, PML-N supported them to avoid any differences in opinion.

Zardari apologises

According to PPP sources, Zardari later apologised to Maryam, to which Maryam responded by saying: "It was never my intent to have you apologise. I merely considered myself as a daughter to you and complained like Bakhtawar or Aseefa would."

Maryam said she had witnessed her father going to 150 appearances before National Accountability Bureau and recalled how she had been arrested in front of her father.

"My father left my mother on her death bed and came back to Pakistan," she said.

Maryam later said that they must let bygones be bygones and bury the matter.

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