I met PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif today and I didn’t get the impression that he wasn’t sure about his return to Pakistan, senior journalist Muzamal Suharwardy said on Friday.
Speaking on Naya Daur TV’s flagship show “Khabar Say Aagay (Beyond the Headlines)”, Muzamal Suharwardy revealed that he had a detailed meeting with former Prime Minister at his London office and he found him in high spirits and ready to return to Pakistan.
“Nawaz Sharif believes that he doesn’t face extraordinary legal odds upon his return to Pakistan. He only needs to file an appeal and secure protective bail. And that shouldn’t be too difficult since his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif had already been acquitted in the same case”, he added.
Muzamal Suharwardy also added that he discussed Imran Khan and chances of rapprochement with him upon his return. Nawaz Sharif, according to Suharwardy, said that he was in no mood to fight with anyone and Pakistan’s economic turmoil didn’t allow the political class the luxury of involving themselves in this pointless infighting.
“We in fact invited Imran Khan for talks and I had even told Shehbaz Sharif to give Imran Khan the written assurance of an early election but he wasn’t ready for that either,” Suharwardy quoted Nawaz as saying.
Reporting on Imran Khan’s Toshakhana case proceedings in Islamabad High Court on Friday, senior court reporter Hassan Ayub Khan said on ‘Beyond the Headlines’ that there are very serious cases registered against PTI chairman and he’s unlikely to get released this year at least, despite all the ‘facilitation’ he’s received from the courts.
When asked about the rise in electricity tariffs and the public unrest that was on full display in many parts of the country on Friday, Muzamal Suharwardy said that the only solution to the problem was to pass on the responsibility of recovering electricity bills to the provinces, which had already been done by the caretaker government.
“This was an important step towards resolving this problem. We can blame the PDM government all we want but fact is that provincial governments have always tried to evade responsibility of recovering the bills and the burden has to be thus carried by certain classes only in one part of the country. This is a step in the right direction and no political government could possibly have taken it, so we have to give the credit to the caretaker government in this regard,” he added.
The show is hosted by Raza Rumi, Monday-Saturday 9 PM, only on Naya Daur TV.