Shehbaz says Nawaz Sharif was returning to Pak not to take revenge but to take country towards the path of prosperity once again
LAHORE, Oct 04, (SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday roused up a crowd in Lahore for the return of party supremo Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif later this month, saying the elder Sharif was not coming back for revenge.
Nawaz Sharif, who has been in self-imposed exile since 2019, left for London in the middle of his seven-year jail term on medical grounds. In the four years that transpired, Nawaz was declared a proclaimed offender in the Al Azizia and Avenfield graft cases for his continuous absence from proceedings.
Addressing a workers’ convention in Lahore as the PML-N prepares for the return of the former three-time premier, Shehbaz Sharif highlighted that the rate of flour and sugar during Nawaz’s tenure was Rs35 and Rs52, respectively. “And there was nothing known as inflation,” he said.
Shehbaz Sharif said Nawaz Sharif’s “crime” was that he worked tirelessly for the country’s development, made Pakistan a nuclear power, and established schools and colleges for the youth.
“This was Nawaz’s crime and that is why there was rigging in the 2018 elections […] and you and your children were deprived of education, medical treatment, prosperity and development,” he said.
“I am here to tell you that, if God wills, your son is returning on October 21,” the PML-N President said. Shehbaz vowed that Nawaz would return to restart the journey toward prosperity and development which had been abandoned.
He urged the crowd to show up at Minar-i-Pakistan on October 21 for Nawaz’s welcome. At the same time, Shehbaz asserted that the elder Sharif was returning to Pakistan not to take revenge but to take the country towards the path of prosperity once again.
“Those characters that did injustice with him, you know them very well. But the decision that needs to be made — will revenge be taken or will the poor and the orphaned be helped?” he asked.
Shehbaz Sharif reassured that Nawaz Sharif is coming back to the country not taking “revenge but in fact to rescue the country out of crisis”.
Shehbaz once again reiterated and confirmed his brother’s homecoming on October 21 and said that Nawaz is coming back to serve the people of Pakistan and to once again recommence the journey towards prosperity.
Commenting on the performance of the Nawaz-led PML-N government, the former PM said that his brother came into power at a time when the country faced long hours of load-shedding. In only four years Nawaz Sharif rooted out load-shedding, he added.
“During Nawaz Sharif’s tenure [as prime minister] flour was at Rs35 per kilogramme,” the PML-N president said while comparing economic indicators and inflation during Nawaz’s previous term as premier with that of now. “I will work with Nawaz Sharif […] to put the country back on track for development and growth.”
Recalling the PML-N supremo’s achievements, Shehbaz Sharif said that his brother — despite then-US president Bill Clinton’s telephone call — conducted six nuclear tests in response to India’s atomic tests.
The country’s progress and development were halted, Shehbaz said while terming the 2018 general elections as “rigged”.
Shehbaz Sharif concluded his address by again calling on the crowd to show up at Minar-i-Pakistan on October 21.
Meanwhile PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Ibqal Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the establishment has accepted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s narrative and backed off from politics.
In a news conference, Ahsan Iqbal said that Nawaz’s narrative has been accepted and the establishment announced openly that it would not interfere in politics any more.
“The establishment and the judiciary will have to cooperate to take the country’s economy forward,” the former planning minister told reporters.
Ahsan Iqbal added that the country could not bear another experiment, claiming that the cure of all of Pakistan’s ills is if an experienced politician like Nawaz is elected back into power.
The senior party leader went on to say that it is up to all stakeholders to ensure that they operate within their constitutional parameters, adding that all state institutions are an asset of Pakistan.