PML-N to shock opponents with ‘historic victory’ in 2018 elections, claims Nawaz

LAHORE: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif claimed on Tuesday his party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will shock its opponents by achieving a historic victory in the next polls scheduled around August next year.  

Addressing a convention here, he said unfortunately development process halted in the country in the wake of his disqualification by the apex court.

Sharif said he made a promise to the people to eliminate power blackouts from the country, which he fulfilled. “We worked day and night and it is because of our efforts that electricity is surplus now.”

Launching a bitter diatribe against the judiciary, Sharif said a nominal salary which he didn’t even receive was declared his asset to dislodge him, whereas, PTI chief Imran Khan who did admit having concealed his assets went scot-free.

The former premier said there were two different yardsticks of accountability, one for him and the other for his opponents.

Will ever a court to hold former military dictator Pervaiz Musharraf accountable come into existence, he questioned and said the decision in his case was announced in matter of weeks while no decision has come in a high treason case instituted against the dictator.

Sharif said those who held the Constitution in abeyance were feted, and once again announced to launch a movement for fair dispensation of justice.

He didn’t spare his political opponents, saying they did not let the chance slip by to dislodge him from office since he was catapulted into power.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of the former prime minister, lashed out at the judiciary, saying few “individuals” ousted an elected premier.

In a pointed reference to the five-judge bench of the apex court that disqualified her father, she said “three or five individuals” cannot decided the fate of the premier elected by 200 million people.

If the state institutions are respected, the elected representatives should also be accorded the same respect, she told the crowd.

Maryam said an attack on an elected premier was tantamount to the attack on every individual who voted for him.

Sharif is being targeted because he stood by an ideology and opted for the right path, she claimed.

She said PML-N social media activists have become a political force and their opponents are afraid of that force. The houses of social media activists are raided and they are picked up from their houses, she added.

She called on her father to take notice of their disappearances, raise voice for their recovery and take action against those involved in the criminal act.