Will live in Pakistan, won't go abroad, vows Maryam Nawaz

• Maryam Nawaz lashes out at PM Imran Khan over PTI Senate ticket fiasco
• Will never leave Pakistan, you will have to go: Maryam to government
• Nawaz Sharif did not give tickets to any billionaires, says Maryam 
  

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GUJRANWALA: PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz on Monday reiterated that she will live in Pakistan, criticising the prime minister for issuing tickets to what she referred to as "millionaires and billionaires". 

Read more: Senate polls: After Balochistan fiasco, Sindh PTI leaders object to award of ticket to Vawda, Abro

The PML-N leader was speaking to media today when she she spoke on a wide range of topics, including the distribution of Senate tickets by the PML-N and the PTI. 

"People from every province in Pakistan have stood up to the ruling party," she said, referring to the protests registered by PTI leaders in Sindh and Balochistan over the award of Senate tickets to Faisal Vawda and a few others. 

"He [Imran Khan] used to say that he has been struggling for the past 22 years. Has he found anyone worth giving the [Senate election] ticket to [within the PTI] in all these 22 years?"

She lashed out at the prime minister, saying that he was always criticising other political parties but had himself issued tickets to "millionaires and billionaires". 

Read more: PM Imran Khan calls emergency meeting to address controversy over Senate tickets

Maryam said that former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani is the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) joint candidate, adding that the Opposition was trying to elect stellar leaders to the upper house. 

"The PML-N awarded Senate tickets to party workers and those who have struggled for the party. Nawaz Sharif did not issue tickets to any billionaires," she said, taking a shot at PM Imran Khan and the PTI. 

Continuing her tirade against the government, Maryam said that the Opposition alliance was silent but members of the ruling party were issuing statements one after the other. 

"Keeping the situation in mind, I fear the no-confidence movement will begin alongside the Senate elections," she said. 

'Will live in Pakistan'

The PML-N vice president said that she would not request the government to take her name off of the Exit-Control List. "Maryam Nawaz will not go abroad, you will have to go," she said, referring to the government. 

Maryam said that she was due for a minor surgery which could not be performed in Pakistan. "I do not wish to go anywhere, I want to live in Pakistan. Even if someone comes to my house and requests me to leave the country, I won't," she vowed. 

The PML-N leader said that those who were 'imposed' on the masses will have to be stopped dead in their tracks, adding that people from every province in the country were rising against inflation. 

"I pity at the bureaucracy and government servants," she said. 

Senate election controversy

Leaders of the PTI have protested to the Sindh and Balochistan leaderships of the party against the nomination of Faisal Vawda, wealthy construction worker Saifullah Abro and a few others after the party decided to nominate them for the upcoming elections of the upper house. 

Disgruntled leaders of the party from Sindh have written a letter to Governor Imran Ismail over it. Earlier, the central party leadership withdrew the Balochistan Senate ticket from business tycoon Abdul Qadir after backlash and issued it to Zahoor Agha.

Encouraged by the Balochistan fiasco, key party leaders from three zones of rural Sindh approached the governor on Sunday to show their anger and demand the party’s high command to take back tickets from Vawda and Abro.

In the letter, PTI office-bearers from three regions said they were “extremely disappointed with the entire process” of the selection of PTI's candidates for the Senate polls.

The PTI leaders from rural Sindh asked to review the allocation of the Senate tickets from Sindh and said the decision will harm the party in the upcoming local government polls.