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Salik Vows ‘Proper Response’ to Maryam’s Rs5bn NoticePakistan
Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain says he will give a proper response to Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz’s Rs5 billion defamation notice once he receives it.
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The public row between the PML-N and its ally the PML-Q deepened on Wednesday, when Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain told reporters he would answer Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s Rs5 billion defamation notice in full — once the notice actually reaches him.
He was speaking to reporters outside the National Assembly in Islamabad, in his first public comment since the notice went out. “God willing, we will give a proper response to it once we receive it,” he said, according to the Express Tribune.
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Salik also rejected the suggestion that he had asked for a deputy commissioner of his choice in Gujrat, and said his remarks had been personal. He added that he had not discussed the matter with his brother Shafay Hussain, who serves as a minister in Maryam Nawaz’s Punjab cabinet.
On the question of evidence, Salik pointed to Maryam Nawaz’s own remarks a day earlier, saying she herself had acknowledged that corruption existed in Punjab. It is important to note that the corruption allegation remains just that — an allegation. No charge has been proven and no court has given a verdict.
PML-N’s reply: prove it or apologise
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari answered by saying Salik should either present proof or apologise. She said Salik had admitted recommending the deputy commissioner and then backtracked, and added that his brother had rejected the allegations.
PML-Q says alliance does not mean silence
The PML-Q also weighed in. Party spokesperson Ghulam Mustafa Malik said being in an alliance did not mean staying silent, and that the party had been publicly challenged. “We will present evidence of corruption, as the Maryam Nawaz government wants,” he said. Malik added that no specific charge had been made against Maryam Nawaz herself and that the party’s statement had been general. He said questions raised about the use of official aircraft and national resources remained unanswered.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also commented on X, saying he holds Salik Hussain and his family in high esteem, that he cannot comprehend the allegation, and that he reads it as a political move aimed at securing more space for the PML-Q.
How the row began
Maryam Nawaz sent the Rs5 billion defamation notice to Salik Hussain on 4 November, after his remarks about corruption in Punjab. The row began on an ARY News talk show on Monday, 2 November, hosted by Naeem Ashraf Butt, where Salik praised former Punjab chief minister and his uncle Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and criticised the incumbent provincial administration, saying he regularly heard complaints of corruption. The notice, issued through Additional Advocate General Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz, was also sent to the ARY News host and the channel’s chairman, Muhammad Iqbal. It gave the recipients seven days to comply, warning that failure to do so would lead to legal proceedings, including under the Punjab Defamation Act, 2024.
Maryam Nawaz, speaking at a scholarship and laptop distribution ceremony in Attock on Tuesday, said political narratives and allegations had a limited “shelf life” and that public service and development work ultimately decided electoral success. She maintained there had been no corruption in development projects worth trillions of rupees launched by her government over the past three years, and said she would not spare any minister against whom evidence of corruption or bribery was presented.
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