BAGH: Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday urged the people of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) in the June 8 by-polls in LA-15, Bagh-II as “the future of Pakistan belongs to it”. Speaking at an election gathering of PML-N candidate Mushtaq Minhas, he said the changing circumstances were favourable for PMLN, and it would resume the journey towards development - which was halted in July 2017 with the “unjustified” ousting of Nawaz Sharif - shortly after securing a two-thirds majority in the general elections. Sanaullah, who is also the president of PML-N’s Punjab chapter, claimed that whenever the country was in deep waters, PMLN came forward to steer it out of crises. PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif ended loadshedding and terrorism in Pakistan, putting it on the path to development, he added.
Shedding light on the three tenures of PMLN, Sanaullah said that Nawaz Sharif did not bother about international pressure and conducted nuclear tests in 1998. “He made Pakistan a nuclear power, and due to nuclear deterrence, our enemy cannot attack us.” However, he lamented that Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for not withdrawing a salary from his son. On the other hand, the minister added, “a foreign imported fitna (miscreant),” which was launched in 2014 and imposed on Pakistan in 2018, was continuously being given out-of-the-way favours. He said the miscreant promoted politics of hatred and chaos in the country, he attacked the judicial complex and brought his goons along while coming for a hearing, blackmailing state institutions that if he was arrested, the public would take to the streets. Upon his arrest, the public did not show up, only his trained goons attacked military installations and desecrated martyrs’ monuments. “What happened on May 9 was not a political or protest demonstration, but vandalism and riots.
“The PTI chief’s dream of “bringing a sea of people” on November 26 to the federal capital shattered as no one showed up, Sanaullah said, adding that he waited for one and a half hours and then took a tour on a helicopter to “see the sea of people,” but to his surprise, there was no crowd. Out of anger, the minister added, the PTI chief decided to dissolve two provincial assemblies and then tried to sabotage the elections that would be held on time at once for both provincial and national assemblies. The minister said PTI leaders, who instigated their workers to wreak havoc on May 9, were now quitting PTI and condemning the May 9 incidents. “No matter what they do, hold press conferences and whatever, they would have to pay the price for what they did,” he added.
Some of these miscreants were complaining that it was too hot in jails, but they forgot how fake cases were registered against political opponents during their tenure. “I was in jail during the scorching heat of June and July.” He said a violent gang in the disguise of a political party has no right to take part in political activities in Pakistan. Sanaullah said that the PTI quitters would now try to make their space in other parties. Some may join the group Jahangir Tareen was going to form, while others might join the PPP or go with PMLN. “Our workers were forced to not take part in elections, RTS was manipulated, and elections were engineered, but our workers remain with the party. We will welcome our detracted workers who had joined other parties.” He expressed optimism that PMLN would form the government after securing a two-thirds majority in the general elections.
Nawaz Sharif has a strong vote bank in Punjab, and PML-N would surely win over 100 seats from the province. “We all know that whoever wins from Punjab forms the government in the center.” The minister urged the people not to leave polling stations after casting their votes but to wait until they receive the polling results. He said that after winning the by-elections, he and Maryam Nawaz Sharif would visit Bagh again to congratulate the people. “Nawaz Sharif would also visit you very soon, and we will welcome him at the Kohala Bridge.” He said Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan, and without it, Pakistan was nothing. Nawaz Sharif made Azad Kashmir financially independent, he said, adding “don’t forget that Mushtaq Minhas is the candidate, but this is Nawaz’s elections so make him win it”.