Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill on Sunday claimed that Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has “asked for a deal for four people” of his family.
Addressing a media conference in Faisalabad, he told the Sharifs: “However much of a deal and leeway you had to be provided, you have been. It is not as if you are out on a shopping trip, that you are seeking a deal”.
Gill said that the Sharif family would never be given a deal. “You have Imran Khan standing in your way,” he said.
“He did not let go of them when he was in the opposition, how will he let go of them now?” he added.
Speaking of the particulars of the so-called “deal”, Gill claimed that it is sought for Nawaz, his daughter Maryam, Shehbaz, and his son Hamza. He went on to claim that the request is for the latter three individuals to be allowed to go to London, whereas Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will stay.
“We won’t even give you a boiled potato, and here you are asking for a chicken burger deal,” he remarked, adding: “The Sharif family is asking for a burger deal which also includes a toy.”
Gill claimed that he met Nawaz thrice while he was hospitalised in Pakistan, and that the PML-N supremo “would plead to be let go”.
The premier’s aide said that the government seeks to bring back Nawaz, who is currently residing in London after travelling there to seek medical treatment in November 2019. He claimed that Nawaz is “being put on a plane and sent here” and that he will “go to jail when he arrives”.
He added: “Soon you will see Shehbaz behind bars.”
“This is the last plea that Shehbaz has made — an offer consisting of four people, and the promise that even Maryam won’t engage in politics,” said Gill.
The PM’s aide said that now, politics in Pakistan will see a clean competition between one vote and another, instead of the use of dirty tactics.
Meanwhile, Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry in a separate media briefing also spoke about the Sharif family, claiming that there is a “race” underway among four leading members.
The two PTI leaders, however, have not been the first to recently speak of “four Sharifs”. On Friday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that “all four members” of the Sharif family can consider themselves “subtracted” from Pakistan’s politics.
Although the interior minister did not specify who exactly these four members are, he was likely referring to the four Sharifs who have remained active as politicians, namely, Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza, of which the first two were disqualified to hold public office in 2017.
Rashid said: “They want that the hand of mercy that was placed on the head of Prime Minister Imran Khan be placed on their heads. That hand may well end up on their necks, but never their heads.”
