Former PM thanks nation for support during by-poll

LONDON: Former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said that he has received complaints from the NA-120 constituency and alleged that some voters went missing from the constituency in the run-up to the by-polls.

Responding to a question regarding the election campaign in the constituency, he said that he was satisfied with the way the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) election campaign was managed. “The party ran a very effective campaign in the NA-120 constituency,” Nawaz said while talking to the media in London.

“The nation was very receptive [of our campaign] for which I am very grateful.” Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Maryam Nawaz handled the NA-120 campaign while her mother and party candidate Kulsoom Nawaz undergoes treatment for lymphoma in London.

The former prime minister is visiting London to meet his wife. “Kulsoom’s treatment is underway and another surgery is planned in the coming days,” Nawaz said. In response to a question about his meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, he said that the two leaders discussed national and international issues in the meeting that took place today in London.

Prime Minister Abbasi, accompanied by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, discussed political as well as regional security issues with Nawaz Sharif. The meeting was taking place at the office of Hasan Nawaz, the former prime minister’s son who resides in London.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also joined the meeting later. Talking to the media after the meeting, Asif said that various political issues came under discussion during the meeting. The premier arrived in London on Saturday en-route to New York to participate in the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commencing from September 18.

He is expected to address the UNGA session on September 21. The prime minister was received at the airport by Pakistan’s High Commissioner Ibne Abbas together with officials of the embassy. Abbasi and others will spend a full day with Nawaz Sharif and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer.