Nawaz criticises PTI Lahore rally for having 'someone else's agenda'

Should learn lessons from our history, says former prime minister

Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for pushing "someone else's" agenda during their rally staged as a show of power in Lahore.

Nawaz also alleged that the crowd seen at the venue was not from Lahore or the province, but had been brought from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).



Continuing his criticism of the opposition party, the deposed prime minister claimed that all have witnessed the 'progress' made by the PTI-led government on KP. "Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) always furthered the agenda of progress and I would have changed Pakistan for the better had I not been ousted," lamented the disqualified premier.

The PML-N Quaid also said that Punjab excels in development when compared with Sindh, K-P and Balochistan.

Addressing the media inside the accountability court in Islamabad, Nawaz also lamented that Pakistan ranks last in the development of good foreign relations with neighbouring countries. "We have learned nothing from the past. India and China are developing friendly relations with each other," he added.

The PML-N government had not appointed a foreign minister after coming to power in 2013 and appointed Khawaja Asif nine months earlier. Asif now stands disqualified after an IHC verdict.

Once again expressing his disapproval of the judicial system, Nawaz reiterated that he was disqualified on the basis of an iqama. "The judges disqualified Khawaja Asif with a heavy heart," he commented, adding, "I'm not happy to have a burden on my heart, how are they?"

On Sunday night, unveiling an 11-point agenda for a new Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan called for establishing Pakistan in the image of the model state of Madina.

Speaking to a large public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan, Khan asserted that today’s Pakistan did not match the dream of Allama Iqbal or the Quaid-i-Azam’s vision. The Quaid, he said, had dreamt of a country where all citizens, including all minorities, had equal rights.



Pakistan, Khan said, must choose between dishonour and dignity. Citing the country’s foreign debt, the PTI chief said that it had touched an alarming level, of which half had been incurred over past five years of the PML-N government’s tenure.

The country, he said, was heading towards a default because it lacked sufficient resources to repay its debts.