Crackdown on political leaders is only to sabotage election campaign: Mushahid Hussain

Author: inp

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Mushahid Hussain Syed on Friday said that the crackdown currently underway on political workers in Lahore was being carried out to sabotage the election campaign of his party.

“All this is done to sabotage PML-N’s campaign. We will resist all such efforts as campaigning is our basic right,” the former senator said while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

He added that the lockdown of the city was unfair and without precedent in the history of the nation.

“We are very clear that PML-N is the largest political party of Pakistan. Someone said that Nawaz Sharif is a convict, I am saying that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was also a convict,” PMLN Leader Mushahid Hussain Syed told reporters.

Mushahid Hussain Syed has been honoured with the Industrial Research Institute award for ‘outstanding academic contributions.’

According to the PML-N leader, the tactics adopted by the caretaker government would likely make the upcoming elections controversial.

“We also admit what they did with former president Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur was also unfair,” he said regarding a recent case involving the leaders of Pakistan People’s Party.

“We will host a warm welcome for Nawaz Sharif. People are converging from all over Pakistan. I would advise them not to repeat mistakes of the past,” the former senator outlined, reaffirming the resolve of his party to welcome the deposed premier upon his return to the country.

“The verdict against Sharif was given to sabotage the whole election process. It has no mention of any corruption,” Hussain complained.

He added that those opposing his party believed that Nawaz and Maryam would not return, but had been proven wrong.

Sharif was sentenced in absentia last week to 10 years in prison by a corruption court over the purchase of high-end properties in London, dealing a serious blow to his PML-N party’s bid weeks ahead of the July 25 polls.

The deposed prime minister arrived in Pakistan on Friday.

Published in Daily Times, July 14^th 2018.