Pakistan PM's son clarifies 'joker' remarks after backlash

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's son Suleman Shehbaz on Saturday, attempted to clarify his 'joker' remarks against three former finance ministers of the country, local media reported.

Suleman said that his "joker" remarks were about the last three finance ministers appointed by the Imran Khan government, Geo News reported.

The statement from the Prime Minister's son came in response to a journalist's query about his "joker" slur against ex-finance ministers which received a strong response from senior PML-N leader and former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Geo News reported.

"Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) changed five finance ministers and I called the last three [jokers]," the PM's son stated.

At this, the journalist asked if the "last three" included Miftah Ismail as well. To this, Suleman said that he didn't name anyone.

The PTI had changed four finance ministers, not five as he said. Asad Umar, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Hammad Azhar, and Shaukat Tarin served from 2018 to 2022 under the PTI government.

On January 16, Suleman took to Twitter and termed the last three finance ministers, seemingly including their own ex-finance minister Miftah Ismail, as "jokers".

Miftah was the first finance minister of his father's cabinet and was praised by the Prime Minister for reviving the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) programme last year.

In the tweet, Suleman said: "The last three finance ministers were jokers. They ran a clown show! Dar sb averted a default after atomic detonations in 1998. The challenges are humongous, he is giving his best shot no match for his commitment and hard work. The three jokers have laid minefields!"

Abbasi said it was inappropriate to call the former finance ministers "jokers", regardless of their party affiliation.

The senior PML-N leader said he was not sure if Suleman said this or not but such remarks were highly condemnable. He added: "Suleman should explain what the tweet meant."