PML-N slams PTI over ban on broadcasting Nawaz's speech, govt hits back

The PML-N on Thursday once more slammed the government for banning the television broadcast of speeches by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, with the government hitting back and saying that the PML-N supremo was an "absconder".

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority's (PEMRA) notification to ban the broadcast of Nawaz on TV was "unconstitutional".

"The government is worried and Prime Minister [Imran Khan] is using the state's authority out of 'fear'," she said, adding that the premier was "sending a message" after having Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider nominated in a sedition and treason case.

Read more: PEMRA bans broadcast of speeches, interviews of proclaimed offenders/absconders

The PML-N spokesperson claimed that during Nawaz's tenure, political opponents were not nominated in treason cases. "[You should] compete in the political arena."

Aurangzeb said that the price hikes in electricity and everyday items "were the last of this government", implying that they would soon "oust" it.

"People from all classes are a part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement," she said.

Meanwhile, hitting back at the PML-N, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that Nawaz had three statuses right now.

Ban on Nawaz Sharif: PML-N should move court to reverse PEMRA's decision, Chaudhry says

"According to the Supreme Court's decision, he is incompetent and a liar, according to High Court and Accountability Court's decision he is an absconder," Akbar said, adding: "He has been indicted according to an accountability court's decision."

"Except for this reality, [everything about] Nawaz is fiction," he said. "Unfortunately, the Opposition's politics revolves around a few families."

Akbar asked Nawaz to return and serve his prison time. "Shahbaz Sharif is also bewildered as National Accountability Bureau is cornering him."