Trains weapons on his imprisoned political nemesis; Describes electoral victory as a validation of governance
Chairing an important meeting of PML-N senators in Murree, Nawaz Sharif asked the senators to actively highlight public issues in the Senate. SCREENSHOT
LAHORE:
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, emerging from the shadows to celebrate his party’s landslide victory in the recent by-elections, said on Wednesday that those who propelled the now-jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to power were even graver culprits than the incarcerated leader himself.
He called for their accountability, while cleverly avoiding any direct mention of the establishment.
Addressing the newly elected parliamentarians of Punjab and the National Assembly, Nawaz marked the victory of the PML-N in 12 of the 13 contested seats.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, along with senior party leaders Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Pervez Rashid, were also present.
Nawaz Sharif and Maryam slammed the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for secretly participating in the elections despite publicly announcing a boycott.
They presented these victories as a testament to the party’s performance and service delivery, a narrative that independent analysts might question.
Addressing the gathering for the first time since his operation, according to Maryam, Nawaz said the narrative surrounding Imran Khan and those who installed him, marked by hooliganism, brutality, theft and foul language, had collapsed.
“They have been denounced on all these counts,” he said, asserting that under Khan’s tenure the country suffered not only financial bankruptcy, but also social, moral and diplomatic decline.
“Khan disrespected elders, youth and women. He came here to play cricket, and that’s exactly what he did when he was in power.”
He also highlighted the return of the IMF under Khan’s government, comparing it to his own tenure when he bid farewell to the fund.
Nawaz attributed the people’s votes to the performance and service delivery of the PML-N, crediting his daughter Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab, and his brother Shehbaz Sharif, the country’s prime minister. “Both of them beat me in every way, and I’m happy to recognize that,” he said.
The PML-N president further accused the PTI of hypocrisy in its election boycott.
“The PTI said it would boycott the elections, but what kind of boycott is it when Omer Ayub’s wife is contesting the elections herself?” he asked, adding that PTI leaders had posted photos of their leaders.
He cited Haripur as an example, where the PML-N defeated the PTI by a margin of 44,000 votes in the PTI stronghold.
Pointing out mismanagement during PTI’s tenure, he added, “be it in Punjab or at the Centre, with frequent changes of chief secretaries and inspector generals. Under Maryam Nawaz, there is order in Punjab, and everything is happening on merit.”
There is a feel-good factor in Punjab which has returned after a long time, he added.
Maryam Nawaz, addressing the newly elected lawmakers, said those who tried to erase Nawaz Sharif from history, whether it was Pervez Musharraf or [Lt] General Faiz Hameed, are now in the dustbin of history.
She said the by-elections had buried Imran’s politics of hatred and division and restored the politics of service delivery.
Responding to criticism that she was the heir to the Sharif family, she said they may have been a by-product of dynasty politics, but apart from politics, they had also inherited ethics, discipline and selflessness. “We have not learned victimhood, insults or incompetence.”
She questioned the PTI’s two-faced boycott strategy, pointing out that they were fielding candidates as independents.
“If they had won, the PTI would have used them to topple the PML-N. Not only did we beat them in Punjab, we also beat them in their own province. We also won all the by-elections under the PTI,” she added.
It is pertinent to mention here that under this regime, corrosive measures have remained the hallmark of governance, including running vile social media campaigns, carried out by social media accounts followed by the Chief Minister herself.
