PML-N demands 'level-playing field' for Nawaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif on Monday said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) only wanted a level playing field for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, following which elections could be held the next day, ARY News reported.

Talking to journalists, the federal minister brushed aside the allegations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that the PML-N was running away from the elections.

Javed Latif said the PML-N only wanted a level playing field for the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and urged the apex court to constitute a full bench and clear Sharif of all fake charges, following which elections could be held the next day.

He categorically rejected the initiation of negotiations with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, stating that the majority of PML-N members were against engaging in talks with the “miscreant in Zaman Park”.

He added considerable members from his party were in favour of negotiating with PTI’s second-tier leadership, especially led by the former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and former chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak.

Latif further stated that negotiating with a “miscreant like Imran Khan, who was responsible for causing unbearable price hikes, rampant poverty, and economic destruction, was not in the interest of Pakistanis”.

Latif also highlighted that certain elements in institutions led a vilification campaign against Nawaz Sharif, which brainwashed people’s minds. “Therefore, clearing these allegations was necessary to ensure that Sharif was not ousted from the political arena in 2023,” he added.