{"id":55068,"date":"2024-02-01T14:21:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T14:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/shehbaz-takes-u-turn-on-militarys-darling-claim\/"},"modified":"2024-02-01T14:21:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T14:21:09","slug":"shehbaz-takes-u-turn-on-militarys-darling-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/shehbaz-takes-u-turn-on-militarys-darling-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Shehbaz takes U-turn on \u2018military\u2019s darling\u2019 claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>LAHORE: PML-N President Sheh\u00adbaz Sharif has taken a U-turn on his earlier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1768354\">claim<\/a> that he had been a \u201cdarling of the military establishment\u201d for the last 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad I been close to the establishment, I wouldn\u2019t have gone to jail and been kept in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dungeon [in the past],\u201d Mr Shehbaz said in response to a question during a talk with digital media representatives on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>In his earlier media interactions, Mr Shehbaz had said, \u201c<em>Main tees saal say establishment ki aankh ka taara hoon<\/em> (I am an apple of the eye of the establishment for the last 30 years).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1806682\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The PML-N leadership has been defending its position of being close to the establishment since the homecoming of former premier Nawaz Sharif in October last year. Even the \u201c<em>Ladla<\/em>\u201d (blue-eyed of the establishment) tag has been haunting the elder Sharif, as his party claims that he will emerge as the \u201c<em>Ladla<\/em>\u201d of the people.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote-level-1\">\n<p>Credits PDM govt for saving Pakistan from default<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Rival parties, especially the PPP, have accused the Sharifs of colluding with the powers that be to return to power after the Feb 8 polls.<\/p>\n<p>When asked whether the PML-N should sign an agreement with other players to prevent a prime minister from being sent to jail every two years, Mr Shehbaz avoided a direct reply, saying, \u201cThere was no political prisoner in the last tenure of Nawaz Sharif.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1807765\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>When asked whether the PDM government, led by him, made the lives of the masses miserable in terms of inflation and price hikes, and if it would be different if he got another chance, Mr Shehbaz took credit for saving Pakistan from default during the 16-month PDM government.<\/p>\n<p>He blamed the Imran Khan government for the economic woes of the country but did not express a desire to become premier again. \u201cIf Nawaz Sharif comes to power after the Feb 8 polls, he will steer the country out of crises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Shehbaz redefined the party\u2019s earlier narrative \u201cvote ko izzat do (give respect to the ballot)\u201d, saying, \u201ccoming up to the expectations of the voters is, in fact, giving respect to the ballot\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He talked about rigging in the 2018 polls, which he said aimed at stopping the PML-N from returning to power. However, he termed the 2024 election \u201cvery important\u201d, stating that it should be free and fair for a \u201cstrong democracy and economy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He further said that the purpose for which Pakistan came into being had yet to be fulfilled. \u201cWe need to learn a lesson from past mistakes to move forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAHORE: PML-N President Sheh\u00adbaz Sharif has taken a U-turn on his earlier claim that he had been a \u201cdarling of the military establishment\u201d for the last 30 years. \u201cHad I been close to the establishment, I wouldn\u2019t have gone to jail and been kept in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dungeon [in the past],\u201d Mr [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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