Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President, Shahbaz Sharif said on Wednesday while addressing to reporters said that welcoming Nawaz Sharif back is their party’s constitutional right and they will not be deprived of it.

He said, ”I will personally go to the airport along with party workers to receive Nawaz”, stressing that the workers are not afraid of shackles and jails and that they will welcome their leader peacefully.  He further said that the “midnight operations”  resulting in arrests of dozens of PML-N workers and leaders raise serious questions about the fairness of the elections. He emphasized that all parties must be allowed to campaign freely.

He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of the arrests and employ some sort of accountability mechanism. The PML-N President maintained, ”We won’t remain silent over these unlawful arrests.

PML-N’s top leadership is scheduled to meet today and discuss the recent developments and Nawaz’s imminent return on Friday.

Prior to all this, hundreds of PML-N workers and local leaders were arrested. Following the arrests, many PML-N workers came out on to the streets and protested outside police stations while key party leaders including Saad Rafique, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Pervaiz Malik held an emergency press conference at 3:30 AM.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB ) has arranged for two helicopters to take Nawaz and Maryam Sharif in custody . One at Allama Iqbal International Airport and the other at New Islamabad International Airport. Containers have also been placed at Mall road to block major routes to the airport in order to suspend any major political rallies.