Daily Times

Responding to a recent arrest and court decisions agianst his party’s key leaders, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) quaid Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that a new history of pre-poll rigging was being created in the country.

He was speaking to the media outside the Harley Street Clinic where his wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz is under treatment.

The former premier maintained that in cases of similiar nature different verdicts were being announced for his party’s leaders and others. He said such actions would lead to terrible consequences for the country.

“Take a took at the record of the past few months and you can tell that it is only me and my affiliates who have been targeted,” Sharif said, adding that the outcome of the July 25 exercise was clear to everyone already.

Sharif said he had directed his party to stand by Qamarul Islam’s daughter and son, noting that Islam’s children submitted his nomination forms from NA-59 Rawalpindi. Islam was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Saaf Pani Company case only after his candidature was announced by the PML-N in a constituency against the party’s disgruntled leader Chaudhry Nisar.

The former premier also regretted the disqualification of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former minister for privatisation Daniyal Aziz. “What are NAB officials and returning officers doing?” he asked, adding, that a very dangerous game known to have been dangerous for Pakistan was being played.

Later, Nawaz said that he was in such a state of mind where he was not interested in indulging in political affairs. “All my attention is focused on the health of my wife,” he said, adding, however, that he could not distance himself from his national duty either.

Published in Daily Times, June 29^th 2018.