Months ahead of elections, PAT-led protests point towards conspiracy: Nawaz

•  Warns machinations against PML-N in Balochistan could threaten CPEC

ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, while questioning the timing of the ‘grand protest’ spearheaded by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), said Tuesday that with general elections only five months away, staging yet another dharna (sit-in) at this juncture pointed towards a conspiracy to derail democracy in the country.

“I do not understand why the opposition is planning a movement against the government now. It is only four or five months until the government completes its tenure,” remarked Nawaz while speaking to reporters outside an accountability court in Islamabad.

“Why has Maulana sahib [Tahirul Qadri] arrived from Canada at this point in time? What are the reasons behind their calls for a movement against us? Maulana sahib should wait for another four to five months and let the people decide for themselves,” remarked the chief of the ruling PML-N.

About the political crisis in Balochistan, Nawaz remarked that former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri ‘s ouster was ‘a joke with democracy’, and pledged to uncover the motives behind the ‘conspiracy’.

He said that making a man, who could never amass enough support from the people, a man who was bound to lose the election, the chief minister of a province was a horrific joke with the people of Pakistan.

Nawaz noted that the troubles of the province were of a very serious nature and that a man who only acquired 500 votes in the election for chief minister would never be able to tackle the problems. He reiterated that it was nauseating joke being played with the people of Pakistan.

“We are in contact with the leadership of the province in this regard. We will call a conference on the matter soon,” he added.

Nawaz also warned that machinations against his party in Balochistan could threaten the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“CPEC can change the fortunes of Balochistan and the Baloch people, but political anarchy carries the threat of damaging this project,” he warned.

When asked about proceedings against him in the National Accountability Bureau court, Sharif said: “the media and the nation are witnesses that the case carries no weight or concrete evidence.”

“I fail to understand what is actually the case against me,” he added.

Accompanied by his daughter Maryam, also accused in the corruption case, Federal Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar, his political aide Senator Asif Kirmani and other party leaders, Nawaz narrated a story about a famous big-budget film in Lahore in the 1960s.

“After it was released, amid much fanfare, someone asked the producer and director how the movie was faring, to which they replied ‘Pehlay haftay zabardast, doosray haftay zabardasti’ (The first week was great but the second was forced),” said Nawaz, linking the grand and then flop turn of the film to his own corruption cases.