ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is always ready for early elections.
In an interview with journalists earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan had hinted at early elections in the country.
Nawaz held an informal conversation with journalists before the hearing of the Flagship reference at the accountability court in the federal capital.
The PML-N supremo said that the prime minister’s statement regarding early elections had been welcomed by the people, who he said, were disappointed with the PTI government’s 100 days performance. The former prime minister stressed that the PML-N believed in serious politics.
He added that according to the report of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), the margin of win in 53 constituencies was less than the rejected votes, adding that rigging had taken place.
Moreover, the former PM said the ruling party was running the country like a fertiliser factory while it was a country of 220 million people.
“Record development work was done during our tenure,” he remarked. “The network of highways was laid in every corner of the country … We pulled out the country from the darkness. We worked in four power sectors valuing Rs 160 billion. This is the reward being given to us.”
He underlined that the whole world was watching the sayings and doings of PM Imran Khan.
“I have seen for the first time in my political life that a government is talking about mid-term polls in three months after coming to power. It means they don’t have the ability to run the government,” he observed.
Nawaz claimed that the government is diverting the nation’s attention from real issues “by talking about hens and dogs.”
“There is no stability on economic front. The country is heading towards the brink of disaster,” he added.
THE TRIAL:
NAB had filed three references against members of the Sharif family in line with the Supreme Court’s (SC) order of July 28 last year.
In September 2017, the trial against the Sharif family commenced. On July 6, after four extensions in the original six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
An accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) in the corruption reference while his daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million). Additionally, Nawaz’s son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine.
However, the jail sentences were later suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
