Pushing one party against the wall is pre-poll rigging, Nawaz says

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–Deposed PM says people will reject results of ‘politically engineered’ general elections

–Rejects CJP’s criticism of Punjab govt’s performance, says even an ordinary person knows which provincial govt is performing better than others

–Says PML-N govt had overcome electricity shortfall ‘but outages occurring due to surge in demand’

 

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday claimed that efforts were being made to manipulate the upcoming general elections, adding that everyone should be given an equal chance to take part in the polls process.

“Pakistan is heading towards unfair elections yet again because pushing one party into isolation amounts to pre-poll rigging,” Nawaz told reporters after appearing in the Avenfield flats reference  in the accountability court.

The deposed premier said that if the political engineering continues to happen, no one will accept the results of these elections.

He further said that the language used by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar was not much different from that used by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali  Zardari.

Nawaz said that the chief justice himself has said that he doesn’t believe in any judicial martial law but he has “grave doubts” over this.

He said that the performance of the Punjab government is the best but questions are still raised over it. “Even an ordinary person would be able to answer which province has performed the best,” the former premier said.

Speaking on his demand for live broadcast of court proceedings of the graft references, Nawaz said that he will speak to his lawyer if a petition pertaining to the trial’s live transmission can be submitted to the court or not.

On April 4, Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had demanded live broadcast of the corruption proceedings underway against them at the accountability court in Islamabad.

Referring to his recent meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Nawaz said that he had discussed the caretaker setup with the premier.

Referring to the increase in electricity load shedding across the country, Nawaz made a strange remark that even though the PML-N government had overcome outages, load shedding had recurred due to a surge in demand for electricit.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader also reiterated that the economy had improved during his tenure and added that cement and steel industries were thriving.

He claimed that Pakistan was on the path of prosperity when the Panama verdict came out and the situation deteriorated. He further said political instability had also the caused rupee to weaken against the dollar.

Addressing reporters after her father, Maryam Nawaz said that Imran Khan will wait for the 2023 elections after the 2018 elections. She was responding to Imran’s recent statement in which he said that he had been waiting for the 2018 elections for 22 years.

While addressing a party membership camp in Rawalpindi a day earlier, Imran had said that his party would defeat all rival political parties in the upcoming elections.