Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A day after using its parliamentary majority to amend the law, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday re-elected ousted prime ministerNawaz Sharif as its leader, saying he is ‘back with full force’.

JafarIqbal, who headed a five-member election body, said Nawaz Sharif had been elected party president unopposed by the central executive committee of the party.

“There have been attempts again and again to exit me … but you will always keep giving me an entry again and again,” Nawaz told party workers after his election. “I congratulate that you’re bringing Nawaz Sharif back with full force.”

No one came forward to contest Nawaz Sharif,Iqbal said amid clapping, thumping and slogans in support of the former premier in televised proceedings of the party election at the Convention Centre in Islamabad. The former prime minister will lead the party for four years.

Parliament amended a law on Monday to enable Nawaz Sharif to re-take the PML-N leadership. The vote was more of a formality as PML-N has a vast majority in the Lower House.

Nawaz told a charged crowd of workers and office-bearers that his party members knew the reasons behind his disqualification as prime minister.”If they were not able to find anything in Panama Papers, they should have told people the truth that we have found nothing … thus we are going to take him out with an iqama.”

“Legal grounds should not be exploited to insult the mandate of the people,” he said, adding, “Pakistan will not forgive us if we do not make efforts for changing the system.”

“The right to rule in the country is the right of the people and constant breach into this right must stop,” asserted the deposed PM.

Aiming at those allegedly responsible for his ouster, Nawaz said the breach of constitution by four dictators was not only overlooked but praised. Even after violating the constitution, “they remained Sadiq and Amin,” he added.

“When the unconstitutional actions of the dictators couldn’t be substantiated with logic, then a doctrine of necessity was invented.”

Nawaz Sharif thanked the people for repealing the law which barred disqualified politicians from holding office in a party. He said former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf had reinstated this law after AyubKhan first introduced it.

“I would like to thank the people for throwing this law back at their faces.”

He asked the crowd to reflect on the incidents leading to the creation of Bangladesh and the ‘reasons that led to Pakistan regressing behind all independent countries around us’.”We learned nothing from the fall of Dhaka,” he said, adding that Pakistan has not reflected on and fixed its problems. He said he had asked 12 questions in the lawyers’ convention but did not get a ‘single reply’.

Nawaz said he has proposed a grand national dialogue to focus on restoring the people’s mandate as ‘only those should govern who the people vote for’.

“The people will decide through their vote [in general elections of 2018] who is qualified and who is unqualified,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, October 4^th 2017.