Shehbaz government a puppet of army, says Sharif aide

LAHORE: A close aide of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has admitted that the PML-N party-led government at the Centre is a mere “puppet,” indirectly indicating that the military establishment is running the government it had stitched.

There has been no reaction from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Mian Javed Latif, a stalwart from Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N and a former federal minister, told a private TV channel on Tuesday that his party failed to secure even a simple majority in the National Assembly in the February 8 general elections.

“They (the military establishment) stitched a government by collecting seats of National Assembly from here and there. You may call it a government of PML-N or some other party but as a matter of fact, it is a puppet government and everyone knows who has the real power,” Latif said.

“Whosoever is running this government, the PML-N will have to bear the brunt of their (establishment) policies at the end of the day,” he added.

This is the first time that a senior leader of the ruling party openly admitted that the six-party government led by PML-N is a “puppet setup” installed by the military. Independents backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI won 92 seats in the February polls while the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) both secured fewer seats than that.

The PML-N then entered into a quid pro quo post-poll alliance with the Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and four smaller parties.

The arrangement ensured that PML-N got the prime ministerial post (Shehbaz Sharif) while PPP got the President’s (Asif Ali Zardari).

On the other hand, a majority of the independents, backed by PTI, joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The powers that be allotted the reserved seats meant for the PTI-SIC party to PML-N and PPP enabling the alliance to garner a clear majority in the National Assembly and form the government.