ISLAMABAD: PML-N leader and daughter of party supremo Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday denied knowledge of any party member meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Maryam’s denial comes two days after news circulated that parliamentary leaders had met with the army chief and Inter-Services Intelligence Director-General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed..
Speaking to the media outside the court, Maryam stated that she knows that a meeting was held in Rawalpindi but no member of the PML-N attended the meeting.
However, senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif confirmed his attendance in the meeting when speaking to a private news channel on Tuesday night.
According to the sources, the PML-N delegation included Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif and Ahsan Iqbal, while the PPP’s comprised Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sherry Rehman.
She also clarified that Nawaz Sharif cannot undergo a surgery till the risk of coronavirus lasted.
During the meeting, according to a military official, the military leadership made it clear to the parliamentary leaders that the army should not be dragged into rivalries of political parties, saying that it is “not involved, directly or indirectly, in any political process of the country”
“If required, the army will stand with the civilian government,” sources quoted a senior military official telling the parliamentary leaders during a meeting last week.
The parliamentary leaders had called on army chief and the country’s spymaster to discuss administrative matters of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and the role of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) among other issues.
The sources said that during the meeting the army told the parliamentary leaders that the army should be kept away from matters like the election process, polling. “Civil affairs and matters should be handled by the civil administration,” the sources quoted the military leadership as saying.
The participants suggested that the task of elections in G-B be left to the new assembly, they said, adding that it was agreed in the meeting that the new G-B Assembly would pass the resolution itself.
As the parliamentary leaders expressed concerns over the role of NAB, the military leadership told them that they had no role in creating NAB.
According to the sources, PPP Chairman Bilawal with reference to the G-B elections said, “It is a matter of national security.”
