ISLAMABAD: Former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has made it clear that he is not in the business of undermining his party colleagues but is only compelled to speak the truth.
In a brief interaction with JEE News on Friday evening, Miftah said he could not hear Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif properly when he spoke about “those who weaken Dar”.
In his address to the general council meeting of the party on Friday, the prime minister had said without naming anyone that those within the party who are criticizing Finance Minister Ishaq Dar have no right to be a part of PML-N.
Miftah has been the finance minister twice in the PML-N government, first in 2017 and again when the current government assumed office in April last year.
On both occasions he was not a member of either House of Parliament but continued to serve as a federal minister.
However, in September last year, Dar replaced Miftah as finance minister.
When his attention was drawn to the Prime Minister’s remarks about Dar’s criticism, he said he had no knowledge of it.
“Why he said that and who he was referring to, I have no idea.” Miftah maintained.
However, Miftah has been very vocal in her criticism of her successor.
On June 9, he said the recently released budget 2023-24 was in line with the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and not too expansionary.
But termed the budget as “unsustainable”.
Furthermore, referring to Dar’s statement on Thursday, Miftah said that geopolitics was not invented in September last year regarding the IMF deal.
“It has always been done. The finance ministry should first decide whether we want to do the IMF program or not.”
Absent Abbasi
Also, sources told JEE News that former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi did not attend the general council meeting of Muslim League-N on Friday.
On the one hand, sources indicated that PML-N leader Abbasi and his close associate Miftah have no plans to part ways with Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N.
However, sources close to Abbasi – who co-founded an intellectual movement forum “Reimagining Pakistan” – said the former prime minister was making clear his views on the government’s political approach. were and found critical of economic policies and certain political measures.
Abbasi was the senior vice-president of the PML-N but left the party soon after Maryam Nawaz was made the chief organizer and senior vice-president.
In a strange move, he was ignored in the PML-N general council meeting on Friday.
He is a member of the National Assembly from Lahore and sits on official benches in the House. He was made Prime Minister by Nawaz in 2017.
Nawaz had initially nominated Shehbaz Sharif to replace him but changed his mind and made Abbasi his replacement after his dismissal due to the Panama Papers case.
