PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday accused the security establishment of being behind his ouster as prime minister and for “bringing Imran Khan into power”.
Nawaz, via video link from London, was addressing the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) first power show in Gujranwala where top opposition leaders gathered to take forward their anti-government campaign.
His comments come less than a month after Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed in a meeting with key opposition figures had counselled them to refrain from dragging the military into political issues.
He questioned who made the state above a state and who was responsible for the two governments in this country, among other things, going on to name COAS Bajwa. “This is your doing,” he said.
He also named Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as being behind everything.
“You can label me a traitor if you want, seize my properties, file false cases against me […] but Nawaz Sharif will continue to speak for his people.”
This is not the first time that Nawaz has gone after the military leadership; during the opposition’s multiparty conference last month, Nawaz had bitterly criticised the army, saying there was “a state above the state in the country”. However, he had refrained from naming anyone.
Criticism of govt
Nawaz blasted the PTI-led government for “failing to do its job” and said people were paying for its “incompetence”.
He questioned why a dictator despite being handed the punishment by the court was able to get away yet civilian leaders like himself were victimized. “Why are elected prime ministers not allowed to complete their five-year term?
“We made so many strides in development,” he said talking about his tenure as premier, “but this government ruined everything.”
He also talked about being labelled a traitor and said this wasn’t the first time that dictators had used this term for civilian leaders to oust them “because they talk about the law and Constitution”.
“Who are patriots? The ones who destroyed the Constitution, who broke the country into two halves.”
He questioned why retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, who this week announced he was stepping down as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, was still not facing any cases for reportedly amassing assets beyond known sources of income.
Referring to allegations levelled regarding Bajwa’s family’s assets, Nawaz said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should have investigated the claims.
“How can he continue to work as chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority?”
Nawaz repeated his accusation that NAB was one-sided and only goes after the opposition.
‘Ocean of people’
A number of politicians, including PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, Khurram Dastagir and veteran politician Javed Hashmi, were present at the venue.
PML-N’s Abbasi, Asif, Aurangzeb, Dastagir and Ahsan Iqbal, Hashmi, Abdul Malik Baloch of the National Party, Mian Iftikhar Hussain of the Awami National Party and PPP’s Latif Khosa were among the politicians who addressed the crowd.
In a tweet after 8pm, Maryam said it
had taken her motorcade six hours to exit
Lahore. “Now rushing to Gujranwala.
[Have] crossed Kamoki,” she said.
Source: dawn.com
