Claim: PML-N has announced that they are ready to leave the government since they did not receive public support for their big decisions.
Fact: Screenshots of news bulletins aired in 2022 were used to imply that the statement is a recent development. The PML-N leadership has not made any statements about the possibility of leaving the government.
On 27 October 2024, Maleeha Hashmey shared a tweet (archived) with a screenshot of a news bulletin claiming attributing the following statement with PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif:
بڑے فیصلوں پر حمایت نہیں ملی ، ن لیگ حکومت چھوڑنے پر تیار
[Translation: Not getting support on major decisions, PML-N is ready to leave the government]
The screenshot also attributed the following statement to President Asif Ali Zardari:
چند روز دیکھ لیں اگر اداروں کی سپورٹ نہیں ملتی تو حکومت چھوڑ دیں، اکثریتی رائے
[Translation: Wait for a few days, if you don’t get the support of the institutions, then leave the government, the majority opinion]
Fact or Fiction?
Through a reverse image search, Soch Fact Check found that this news bulletin can be found online as early as 21 May 2022. The same news bulletin can be seen in the clip published in 2022, at the 49-second mark.
These bulletins are connected to a meeting that the then-caretaker prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had called with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to discuss how they may exit the government, according to Nawaz Sharif’s directions.
An article published by Dawn on 19 May 2022, titled “Better to quit govt than burden people with more inflation: Maryam Nawaz,” also mentions the same statement being repeated by Maryam Nawaz while addressing a rally in Sargodha.
This proves that an old news bulletin from 2022 is being circulated out of context to imply that the PML-N is considering leaving the government in 2024.
Virality
On Facebook, we found that the claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: PML-N is not ready to leave the government because of lack of popular support for the 26th amendment.
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