Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday termed the victory of his party Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) in the Lodhran by-election a response to the victimisation in the guise of accountability that he claims he is being subjected to.

Talking to media after attending the court proceedings in the NAB references filed against him, Nawaz Sharif said that the people of Pakistan were fighting his war as they responded to the fake cases and victimisation by voting in huge numbers for the PML-N candidate in Lodhran by-election.

Former PM said that the cases against him had no merit and that was why interim references were being filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He said that those who had made the cases wanted to get him sentenced because if the sentence wasn’t handed, all their efforts would go in vain. He believed however that there could be no sentence handed since ‘there is no case’.

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PML-N candidate Syed Iqbal Shah on Monday defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ali Tareen, son of former PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen, in Lodhran by-election by a massive margin. PTI had earlier won this seat in a by-election with a margin of around 40,000 votes but not only was PML-N able to overturn the margin, it secured a lead of over 27,000 votes as well this time around. The seat had been vacated after Jahangir Tareen was disqualified by Supreme Court under Article 62(1)(f) on December 15, 2017.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar appeared before the court in Avenfield Properties reference.

Sharif family’s lawyer Khawaja Haris didn’t appear before the court today due to the 3-day mourning announced by lawyers’ bodies on the sad demise of veteran lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir. Two witnesses will record their statements via video link on February 22.

The family also lodged an appeal for remaining absent from the court proceedings from February 19 onwards for the next two weeks, citing the illness of Nawaz Sharif’s wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

The court was adjourned till Thursday, February 15.