ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif Monday said his party had decided not to boycott the parliament just to protect the democratic system in the country. “The elections held on July 25 were the most controversial polls in the country’s history. We didn’t enter the parliament to protect the rigging in elections, but to protect the country’s democratic system,” he told a session of the PML-N’s parliamentary party in the federal capital. “We rejected the elections on the night of July 25. We will raise our voice against rigging both inside and outside the parliament,” he said. “We will demand a probe into the rigging. We will demand the formation of a parliamentary commission. We will also demand forensic audit of the elections,” he added. The PML-N president was of the opinion that in addition to rigging being a major factor behind PML-N’s defeat in the election, the party also suffered due to some of its own shortcomings. “One of the reasons due to which the party’s campaign suffered was Nawaz’s arrest,” Shahbaz said. He also announced that a committee will be formed to look at the factors behind the unfavourable election results. The lawmakers questioned why the party had failed to get the support of any of the independent candidates despite the fact that the PML-N had ruled the province for the past decade. Shahbaz responded to this by saying that the party had contacted independent candidates, however they all refused to extend their support to the PML-N. “Some of the candidates said things I can’t even repeat here,” he claimed. The PML-N members also expressed displeasure at the party’s lack of protest during the oath taking ceremony earlier in the day. Shehbaz tried to placate the members, saying that the time to protest had not arrived yet. Shahbaz condemned that Nawaz Sharif was brought to the accountability court on Monday in an armoured vehicle, asking if a thrice-elected prime minister deserved such a treatment. “The federal and Punjab government should understand that Nawaz Sharif deserves to be treated better.” The attendees of the meeting demanded that the party should run an effective campaign for Nawaz because he meant a lot to the party. Shahbaz, at this point, announced to go to the accountability court on the next hearing scheduled for tomorrow. He told party members to arrive at the accountability court by 8am. Published in Daily Times, August 14th 2018.