Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Monday remarked that the term "neutral" has left Prime Minister Imran Khan terrified as the latter has realized that his time as premier is coming to an end.

Maryam made these remarks while speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court after attending the hearing of her appeals against her sentence in the Avenfield reference

Without naming the premier, she said the wave of neutrality has left someone deflated. "It has reduced your 22-year political efforts to zero," she said.

A few days ago, PM Imran had remarked that only "animals are neutral" as calls increased for state institutions to stay out of mainstream politics. The country's establishment as well as the army have in the past been accused of meddling in political decision-making, with claims that behind-the-scenes support helped PTI win the 2018 general election.

As per Maryam's insinuation, PM Imran's remarks betray his desperation and "is a cry for help from the same quarters that have helped him in the past".

She said that during the PTI-led government, the neutrality of all institutions including the NAB and FIA has been compromised.

On the issue of defection by PTI lawmawkers, she accused Imran Khan of hypocrisy. "You used similar tactics in the past but now that it is going against you, you suddenly have a problem with it."

She said that the ruling party didn't have the numbers in the previous election, including the general election of 2018 and Senate polls 2021. "Others managed the numbers for you, they managed the media and your political rivals. Now you are asking for their help again," she continued.

She said that the premier's desperation was apparent from his tone and behaviour at public rallies, including the desperate and exasperated pleas for help. “There is no reason to be angry and frustrated when the institutions are neutral," she added.

Referring to the prime minister’s statement for the dissident lawmakers in which he asked them to come back to party and he would forgive them, the PML-N leader said that MPAs and MNAs had to consider their political future.

"They can no longer visit their constituencies because of the situation you have created in the country," she said while lashing out at the government for "back-breaking inflation, lawlessness and overall breakdown".

The PML-N leader said that the next general elections was not out of the hands of the premier as the PTI MNAs and MPAs were against the prime minister.

Maryam further said the prime minister not needed to gather 1 million people for a public gathering ahead of the no-trust motion as a protest while calling him to focus on "managing the 10 extra lawmakers you need to complete the numbers” in the National Assembly.

She also accused the premier of blaming his poor performance on conspiracies - both foreign and local - as well as external factors.

“It was unreasonable to call it [the no confidence movement] an international conspiracy against the prime minister as he [the premier] has become victim of his own ego and tall claims,” she said. “No one had to devise a conspiracy against the premier as he himself is enough to do that.”