Daily Times

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday vowed to not bow down to machinations against him.

Addressing party lawmakers alongside Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz said, “If you all are with me we will definitely win.”

Nawaz’s daughter Maryam and Shehbaz’s son MNA Hamza Shehbaz were also in attendance along with other party leaders.

Criticising Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Nawaz said, “Imran Khan, stop with your duplicity and spreading lies. This is not how a new Pakistan will be made.” He asked Imran what his party has done for public welfare in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where the PTI is in power.

Turning his guns towards the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), he asked why the PPP did not initiate the Karachi operation in 2013 on its own. “Karachi has turned into a pile of garbage,” he claimed.

Referring to PPP supremo and former president Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz said, “Zardari sahib, there are allegations against you of taking the country into the dark ages”. “Would’ve changed Pakistan if wasn’t ousted,” he added.

The three-time premier then challenged his opponents in KP and Sindh to compare their provinces to Punjab, where the PML-N is in power.

Shehbaz also addressed the event later.

Earlier, talking to media outside the accountability court, Nawaz Sharif said that there was no comparison of other provinces with the Punjab in terms of development and progress. “Look at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, there is no comparison in sight,” he said, adding there was also no comparison of the development of Lahore with other capital cities including Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta. “You can find a clear difference,” he added.

Nawaz said that construction of motorways was actually service to Pakistan, signifying realization of the dream of prosperous country. He said the agenda of PML-N was to make Pakistan a prosperous country, adding, “If this agenda is followed for next 10 to 20 years, the country will present a different picture.” He lamented that some elements were continuously engaged in leg-pulling activities to stop the country moving towards development and prosperity. “This leg-pulling has been our history for last seven decades,” he remarked.

Nawaz asks court to record joint statement of JIT head

Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday filed an appeal in the accountability court for jointly recording the statements of JIT head in the three references against the Sharif family.

“All three references point to a single accusation pertaining to assets in excess of income,” the application read. “We have been demanding a single reference for all three cases since the beginning,” it added.

Nawaz’s counsel, Khawaja Harris, maintained that all three references bore similar accusations towards the Sharif family. Hence, Zia should file his statements pertaining to the other two references: Al-Azizia and Flagship. “Our defence will be clear if his statements are recorded for the said cases,” said Harris, to which National Accountability Bureau’s prosecutor Sardar Muzzafar stated that NAB wants to complete the trial for the London apartments first. “The defence wants to bulldoze the whole proceedings of the case,” he remarked. “If the defence wants any statement, it can be given by investigation officer Imran Dogar.”

Haris also objected to the offer as it could potentially damage the defence. “The court advised the parties to record joint statements of the witnesses. Instead of recording statement from Wajid Zia, NAB opted to present a statement of its investigation officer for the Avenfield reference,” he said.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Bashir allowed NAB to record statements of Imran Dogar for the Avenfield reference. “The order for the application filed by the defence will be announced later,” the court said.

Published in Daily Times, May 1^st 2018.