LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz central leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif has stressed that the May 11 elections should not be compromised for any reasons, saying the state should provide foolproof security to political leaders at all levels as peace is the key to free and fair polls.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Maryam noted that almost all the regions in the country were under threats, particularly those areas which were more prone to terrorist activities. In such circumstances, it was a must that the state fulfilled its fundamental duty of protecting all the political leaders, she asserted.
Maryam said, "The caretaker government and the election commission should take extraordinary measures to ensure peace and order for upcoming elections. But whatever the security situation may be it should not affect elections. It should be ensured that elections are held right on time.”
About threats to her party leadership, Maryam said Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif also have had security threats, but they braved them and were reaching out to the voters. She was of the opinion that political leaders had to come out and reach out to the masses to run their campaigns successfully. “It is important that leaders interact with their people, no matter what.”
Maryam seconded Asfandyar Wali Khan and other leaders that whatever losses were incurred elections should not be delayed, saying the only way out of all this chaos was through having a strong government that could stop unfortunate events from happening. She also condemned recent terrorist attacks on election candidates and campaigners, and said each political leader was an asset to the country.
Asked about political parties’ concerns that they had not been given a level-playing field, the PML-N leader said, “There are genuine threats to certain people. From another angle, it can be seen that those people who now know that they cannot win have been complaining that such problems surfaced in a certain province just to get sympathy of the voters which is not the right way to go about things. If they are not going to get out of the safe walls of their houses, then there is no way that they can vie for elections. But for those who have decided to take Pakistan on the right path, they will have to suffer inconveniences.” Maryam, to another query about the practice of mudslinging among different politicians, said, “There used to be a maturity in politics in the past. We all observe that there has been a departure from moral and ethical values in politics this time around.
There are a lot of political and ideological differences. But then again there needs to be an ethical consideration: respect for ethics and moral values in politics. There are some new entrants who are desperate to attract the voters and in their very pursuit, they have resorted to unethical practices. Maybe they feel insecure, or maybe they haven’t learned any moral values.”
When asked to comment about leading parties in upcoming national and regional polls, Maryam said,” I feel there is a secret alliance among the PPP, PTI, and PML-Q; they are targeting our party in every manner. If you see their plan of action, they are strategically supporting each other.” She also said if some party talked about corruption, it did not target the PPP for its proven corruption scandals, but threw garbage on the PML-N instead.
Maryam however claimed that the only experienced party with which hopes for betterment of Pakistan were being attached was the PML-N. She said her party was the only group which did not make void slogans but performed, delivered and kept its commitments all these five years. She implored to the masses to vote the right party to power which they felt could put the country on the right track.
She held the belief that the May elections were going to be performance based, where the people would see that it was only the PML-N that fulfilled tasks it took up and could also take the responsibility of transforming Pakistan into a better country.
Showcasing the works of PML-N-led outgoing Punjab government, Maryam said the PML-N was the only party that had many successful projects to its credit. “Uplift works carried out by former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif under guidance from Nawaz Sharif speak for this party. We took up and completed a number of large projects, such as motorway, metro bus in a very short span of time.
About elections campaign of her party, Maryam said “PML-N leadership, Nawaz Sharif and Shabaz Sharif, are leading their election campaigns in full throttle. Their security is being stepped up because they have received a lot of threats recently, but the thing is that all leaders have to face this. They have to come out and lead their people. Nawaz Sharif does not care about any security threats. I myself go into the streets every day. And I do not have a bulletproof car either. I go into hordes of people every day. I interact with them. This is what politics is and how it is done. It asks for blood, it asks for passion and even your life.”