Nawaz Sharif throws down gauntlet to ‘invisible forces’

Calls Imran Khan, Zardari puppets; says elections will be a referendum for sanctity of vote

LAHORE/SAHIWAL: Deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said in the upcoming general elections the ruling party will not contest against Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or Asif Ali Zardar’s Pakistan People Party (PPP) but some forces which are invisible.

“The upcoming polls will be a referendum on the slogan of ‘give respect to vote’ and it will result in victory of Nawaz Sharif and defeat of conspirators. Respecting the vote is akin to respecting the decision of 22 million people of Pakistan,” Sharif said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at the ruling party’s yet another power show in Punjab’s Sahiwal district.



“Voting for the PPP, the PTI or even independent candidates can lead to a ‘puppet’ government, as all have been sold out. The vote should be given its due respect as the people of Pakistan couldn’t be fooled anymore,” he added.

Sharif, who was disqualified by the apex court in July last year in Panamagate case, urged people to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as “this is the only way through which the top court’s Panamagate verdict could be overturned”.

Lashing out at Imran Khan, Nawaz said that while Imran remained incapable of meeting the 11-point agenda he presented in his Lahore rally, the PML-N delivered the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to the country, eradicated loadshedding and initiated countless development projects.

“The blue eyed boy is unable to deliver. He failed in the past and will fail again,” Sharif said in a derogatory reference to Imran Khan. “He wants to push a prosperous Pakistan back to darkness,” he added.

The deposed premier rejected the PTI’s claims of bringing progress to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) where the PTI rules and claimed that the K-P including its capital Peshawar is in bad shape.

Sharif also accused Imran of being hands in glove with Zardari and said the PTI voted for the PPP’s candidate in the Senate elections. He claimed that the PTI’s latest show of power in Lahore was actually arranged through workers brought from the K-P.

“It was like holding a jalsa in Charsadda on the strength of the people of Sahiwal,” he said.

Reiterating his mantra against judiciary, Sharif said he had appeared before the accountability court 70 times in the last few months, adding that he was being punished for ending load-shedding from the country.

Earlier, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz praised the people for supporting the PML-N. Lambasting the ruling party’s political rivals, she said the people had now realised that the opposition was playing in the hands of others.



She said Imran Khan accused his MPAs of selling their votes for money during the Senate polls. But, according to her, the PTI MPAs called Khan a thief. She said conspirators are trying hard to impress the ‘umpire’ through their maneuverings in a bid to become the prime minister.

“But in the elections they will be wiped out,” she claimed.

Reply to Zardari

Earlier in the day, Nawaz Sharif urged the former president Asif Ali Zardari to refrain from distorting the political history by telling lies. He was responding to Zardari’s comments, who on Monday said Sharif always embroiled himself in battles against the establishment while he chose to shake hands with it.

Terming the PPP stalwart’s comments “unworthy for a party chief”, the PML-N top leader questioned whether Zardari was “so innocent” that he fell prey to his temptations. “Zardari said he was following my directives when he spoke against army, he should reveal now whose puppet he has become today.”