PML-N president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday called for accountability for “those who brought Imran” into power, claiming that they were bigger “criminals” than the PTI founder.
“Imran Khan was not the only criminal; the ones who brought him to power were the bigger criminals, and they should be held fully accountable,” said the PML-N supremo while addressing a gathering of newly elected lawmakers today.
In 2018, according to figures provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan, PTI had emerged as the largest political party in the country, winning 115 of the 270 National Assembly seats on which the elections were held.
During a session in parliament following the election of then-PM Imran, PML-N leader Shehbaz brought up allegations of rigging in the July 25 polls. Alleging that 1.6 million votes were rejected, he questioned the discovery of ballot papers from gutters and streets across the country.
“You know their (PTI’s) narrative well, they used to call others robbers and dacoits while they were the bigger robbers.”
Nawaz added that the people of the country are now aware of what the previous government did and further said, “they only indulged in chaos, anarchy and fights, including slandering others”.
He asked if a country can progress under such circumstances and with such people residing in the corridors of power.
The PML chief lamented that prior to the change of power in 2018, the country was on a path of progress with low inflation and higher growth rates.
Nawaz recalled that the Saudi riyal was valued at Rs11 when Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in 1999, compared to around Rs78 today (as pointed out by an audience member). He said currency depreciation had made life unaffordable for Pakistanis.
The PML-N supremo added that Pakistan cannot make decisions independently due to its reliance on the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“If our rate of progress had remained the same, who knows where we would’ve reached today. There would be no worries about IMF or about foreign exchange,” Nawaz said.
“Now we have all these worries; what are our reserves, whether IMF will let us do this or not. We cannot make any decision ourselves. Our personal decisions are in the hands of foreigners,” he stated.
The PML-N leader claimed that people voted for the party on the basis of its performance, praising both PM Shehbaz and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for their efforts to “reach the level that we had lost”.
He said the two were “working hard” to restore economic stability, saying the government had “taken the economy out of the trenches” and moved the country away from default.
Nawaz said provincial schemes, including low-cost housing, hospital projects, student laptops, scholarships and the “Suthra Punjab” and green bus initiatives, are evidence of progress.
He also highlighted what he described as improved security and social protection in Punjab, saying ration cards and health facilities were reaching vulnerable families without discrimination. “People of all beliefs and religions are our brothers and sisters,” Nawaz stated.
In her address, Maryam Nawaz said that those who slandered hereditary politics fielded their wives and relatives in the elections. They ran campaigns everywhere in the by-elections, put up pictures of their leaders, but even then showed the hypocrisy of boycotting. She added that on the day of election, their camps were empty, when they lost, they said that we had no candidate. Now the people come to their meetings and are not deceived, they have come to know the difference between real and sham politics.
“By the grace and mercy of Allah Almighty, the narrative of fights, misbehavior and bad culture has ended,” she said, highlighting that even if you boycott, no one can stop the real power of people. “The last four years of power will be written as the worst period in history. The politics of rudeness, abusive language, and raising voices against women started in the previous era. The PML-N has transformed the culture of rudeness and abusive language into development and service.”
She continued, “Elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was taken out three times by hatching conspiracies. Everyone conspired against Nawaz Sharif, but he is the first leader of Pakistan in 40 years whose government is still in power. Nawaz Sharif also endured exile from the country for 11 years. Even today, the federal government and provincial government of Punjab are in full swing. Those who have been shouting slogans for the end of Nawaz Sharif’s politics are themselves going to the dustbin of history.”
She went on to say that all development works are being done on the advice of Nawaz Sharif, who has talked about serving the people, controlling bread price and inflation every day.