Nawaz biggest enemy of state, says PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is the biggest enemy of the state as he is instigating the military to overthrow army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.

“He [Nawaz] is asking the army to oust the army chief and the ISI chief. In other words, he is instigating a rebellion,” Imran Khan said on Friday while addressing a big rally in Khyber Pakhtunkwa’s Swat district.

“Nawaz Sharif is instigating this rebellion while sitting in London only to protect his [ill-gotten] wealth. Who will be a bigger enemy of the state [than Nawaz Sharif]?” he added.

The PML-N supreme leader recently broke his long silence and delivered fiery speeches at the rallies of the opposition parties’ newly cobbled alliance – the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

In the speeches, Nawaz strongly criticized the country’s military establishment for “forming a state above state’ and for imposing the PTI government through a “rigged” election in July 2018.

Commenting on his recent speeches, the premier said Nawaz Sharif is speaking against state institutions while sitting in London. “He is cowardly like a jackal,” he added.

Imran claimed that the convicted former premier was freed on bail and later given the rare permission to get medical treatment in London in view of his alleged illness. However, according to the premier, it turned out that Nawaz Sharif was faking illness to escape the hardships of jail and punishment.

“We had relented then as we thought that he was actually ill. Women also found Nawaz’s face tragic. The courts also felt sorry for him and asked me to allow him to get treatment abroad.

“I asked the court to at least ask him to deposit Rs7billion [as guarantee] as he worships money [and would return to escape confiscation of that amount] but this did not happen and he went abroad. “

The premier said the PML-N supreme leader and his daughter Maryam Nawaz tried a lot to get an NRO – secret reprieve. “But when he realized that Imran Khan is not going to give him an NRO, he started his game from abroad and started attacking the Pakistan Army and the judiciary.”

Imran said Nawaz’s daughter Maryam is also repeating the same anti-state narrative. However, Nawaz’s sons are silent as they know that if they used the same language they would end up in jail.

“Maryam Nawaz is taking benefit of the respect the nation shows to women. She should, however, not take undue benefit of this national value. If it were any other country, Maryam would be in jail for the language she is using [against state institution].”

Imran Khan said Nawaz Sharif launched inquiries against PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari in both of his earlier tenures as prime minister. When Zardari came to power, he also implicated Nawaz in court cases. “However, now both of them are united in their search for an NRO.”

The premier said former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf made a great mistake by offering NRO to Zardari and Nawaz in 2007. “During their subsequent rules, the national debt increased by four times.”

Imran Khan reiterated that he will never give an NRO to the top leaders of the PML-N and the PPP. He said he is making utmost effort to ensure rule of law and to turn Pakistan into a welfare state. “It would be like committing treason, if I gave an NRO to these dacoits to protect my government,” he said.

The rally was held for distribution of the Sehat Insaf Card among the poor. Under the programme, every household in the province will get free medical treatment up to Rs0.1 million.

The prime minister said the provision of facilities to the public is linked to the condition of the national exchequer, which, he said, was plundered by the previous governments.