- Says he may skip PML-N’s election campaign, warning ‘they are after me’
- Ex-PM claims development restricted to Punjab
MANSEHRA: Sacked premier Nawaz Sharif announced on Sunday that his lifetime disqualification – ruled by the Supreme Court – and the laws behind it would have to be challenged and changed in the Parliament.
Speaking to a rally of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Mansehra, he said, “This law, this decision (of Supreme Court to disqualify me) would have to be taken to the assembly and changed.”
He complained that ‘this circus’ has been going around in the country for 70 years. He complained, “No prime minister has been allowed to complete their tenure. I want to take a promise from you that the next 70 years will not be of disrespect but of respect for us.”
“Will you act on what I say, [irrespective of] from wherever I say it? If yes, then we will sail through. Otherwise, we will continue to be disrespected like this,” Nawaz warned.
‘THEY ARE AFTER ME’:
The ex-prime minister expressed apprehension that he might not able to participate in the election campaign, saying: “You know that they are after me. They want to arrest Nawaz Sharif and put him in jail because you love me.”
He added that “they hate the person who is loved by people. But I am sure that the nation’s love will succeed and those conspiring against Pakistan will fail.”
Nawaz demanded votes for his party in the upcoming 2018 general elections. He urged that he would “need votes” to dismiss the conspiracies against the country.
The former premier stated that the PML-N’s slogan ‘respect to the vote’ demanded respect for the people of Pakistan. “Our call to respect the vote demands respect for the people of Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan wasd not a country for a few people, rather it belonged to the nation of 200 million people.
‘NEW PAKISTAN ONLY IN PUNJAB’:
He also reminded the audience that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which raised slogans for a new Pakistan, had done nothing for the province.
“I have seen new Pakistan from Islamabad to Burhan and Burhan to Shah Maqsood.
“But from Shah Maqsood to Havelian, Abbottabad, and Mansehra I have seen the old Pakistan. They used to say that we will make a new Pakistan. I saw right and left and in the front, I could not see a new Pakistan,” Nawaz remarked, promising that a six-lane motorway would be extended until Mansehra by next year.
“Had Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) been with Shahbaz Sharif, the entire picture of the province would have different.
“Go to Punjab and have a look at Lahore. You will see a new Pakistan, but as you enter KP, or on the other side in Sindh, you will see the picture of the same old Pakistan. No development, no happiness can be seen there.”
Nawaz said that thanks to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mansehra is about to become the centre of local and foreign investment.
Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz tweeted during the Mansehra rally, “There is complete freedom in our country to tell lies but speaking the truth and presenting facts is not tolerated.”
The rally started at approximately 2 pm at the Mandi Mawaishian Ground. A 120 by 40 feet stage was set up for the party leadership, according to the event’s organiser Federal Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf. Arrangements were made for over 100,000 people and the rally will take place regardless of the weather, he said.