By Sanjeev Sharma New Delhi, Oct 17 : Maryam Nawaz, Vice President of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to prolong the tenure of former ISI chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed because he knew that "if the DG ISI was replaced, his government falls like a house of cards", The Express Tribune reported. "Imran Khan used to blame Nawaz Sharif of locking horns with the state institutions; but when his turn came, attacking the institution of the armed forces is one thing, he in fact carries out a suicide attack on them (just to save one person)," Maryam told a rally. She said that Khan was not taking a stand on principle but wanted to retain the spymaster to save his own government, the report said. Maryam not only harangued Khan throughout her address, but also dedicated a good part of her speech to take a dig at Lt-Gen Hameed also. She said that Khan, by saving his "godfather", was also making a mockery of the institution of the armed forces. "Imran Khan wants to a save the person, who was stealing elections and ballot boxes for him; who was oppressing his opponents; blackmailing judges to get favourable decisions; abducting journalists; and pulling the plug on (TV) channels," she added. A relentless Maryam Nawaz fired off a trenchant broadside against Khan, charging him with undermining state institutions by launching, what she described, a "suicide attack" on the armed forces. The PML-N Vice President and the most vocal opponent of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, told a charged crowd at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Faisalabad that Khan was undermining state institutions to satisfy "his selfish zeal". (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at sanjeev.s@ians.in) /IANS