ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif expressed surprise on Monday over some political parties bagging Senate seats without having substantial representation in the provincial assemblies. Speaking to the media on Monday outside the accountability court hearing corruption cases against him, Nawaz said, “It is crucial to get to the bottom of this. This system should change. This game of money should be buried. This has happened in the past but this time it was too open and brazen.” Nawaz complained that in Senate elections, lawmakers faced difficulty recognising PML-N nominees since they were contesting as independent candidates owing to a recent Supreme Court decision. Talking about the party’s victory in Sunday’s by-election in Sargodha, the disqualified PML-N president said “they can’t erase us by snatching our symbol.” “This should serve as an eye opener…the more injustice that is meted out to us, the bigger the public reaction and support for PML-N is emerging,” he said. The deposed premier asserted that the people of Pakistan were not a herd of cattle that could be steered to any direction. “I am pleased to see that the public is getting smarter and is revolting. They should be. Their elected leader was thrown out by four-five people without reason,” he said. Published in Daily Times, March 6th 2018.