ISLAMABAD: In a dramatic power struggle within the family of former Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, the wife of his younger brother
Shahbaz Sharif
took to Twitter on Thursday to attack him saying he was heeding to "the most mediocre advisers a leader could have chosen".
Tehmina Durrani
's attack on Nawaz comes a day after he had made it clear that the appointment of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as PM was not a stop gap arrangement. This was a U-turn from his earlier statement following his disqualification as an MP by Supreme Court of Pakistan that Shahbaz would be his permanent successor. However, on Wednesday, before embarking on a journey to Lahore, Nawaz said: "I wish Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to remain PM till next general elections."
On Thursday, Tehmina criticised her brother-in-law for shutting down businesses of people on the historic Grand Trunk Road by deciding to return to Lahore, his hometown, in a procession. In a series of tweets, she said: "Who'll pay 4 th profit loss of hotels and shops? Govt? Instead of counting 'heads', on GT rd, provide 4 these & all othr `heads' acros Pak! (sic)"
Addressing her brother-in-law as 'MNS sb' (
Mian Nawaz Sharif Saheb
), Tehmina said in another tweet that while choosing "mediocre" advisers, the PML-N chief had rejected his "most sincere, politically experienced & astute colleagues".
The reference was to senior party leaders, including her husband, who had tried to convince Nawaz to skip the idea of going to Lahore in a rally.
PML-N sources said while Nawaz's daughter Maryum Nawaz and wife Kulsoom Nawaz wanted him to travel on GT road, addressing people on the way to restore his political credibility, Shahbaz and Tehmina were opposed to the idea.
In another tweet, Tehmina went on to call Nawaz's rally an "under-19 game" and suggested him to fire his "failed" media team. Incidentally, Maryum Nawaz heads the media team.
This is the second time in as many days that Durrani has spoken against Nawaz on Twitter. On Wednesday, she tweeted that her husband should have been spared the responsibility of protecting and assisting his own party's rally. "If I were to advise Mian Nawaz Sharif Sb, I would have requested him to address the nation instead of putting a most loyal brother -Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif -in such a contradictory position. The CM Punjab should have been spared the responsibility of both protecting and assisting his own party rally. It is very callous to put him in this position," she had said.
"My past proves I speak 'freedom'. CM Shahbaz responsible to save the day is a ruthless and uncaring demand on him (by Nawaz Sharif)," she added.
This is not the first time Tehmina has spoken out publicly against her brother-in-law. When Nawaz's name was revealed last year in Panama Papers leak, she had advised him: "The offshore companies, foreign properties and accounts may be legal but these are unethical. The only way to clear Sharif name is to keep the minimum, simplify life drastically, return all foreign and local wealth to the nation."