We can bid Pakistan goodbye if current govt not dispatched immediately: Shahbaz

LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday said that "we might as well bid Pakistan goodbye" if the country is not "rid of the current government immediately".

"God forbid, if this government is not sent packing, we might see Pakistan's khuda hafiz — so gear up," the PML-N president said, while addressing a PML-N gathering of the party in Lahore.

The PML-N president said the time has come to end this government "which was formed as a result of rigging".

The country's founder, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah "must be turning in his grave" over the current state of affairs and leadership in Pakistan, Shahbaz said.

Slamming the PTI for its policies, he said: "I had revealed this 3.5 years ago that a NAB-Niazi nexus exists.".

"They have mortgaged the country to the IMF (International Monetary Fund," the PML-N president said.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said if the premier likes unveiling projects "so much", he should have informed him, as he would have awarded him a plaque for "unveiling so many plaques".

Rafique foresees Imran Khan's 'political death'

For his part, PML-N leader and former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said he predicts PM Imran Khan's "political death" in the near future.

Rafique called on PML-N and PPP to join hands and initiate a political struggle, adding that Imran Khan is "not a part of the political fraternity".

The ex-federal minister said joining hands is the only option to take the country forward and noted that pulling one another down would not help.

"The state faces threats from within; we will have to bear in mind that we will be safe only if the country exists, so, we must not play with its integrity," the PML-N leader warned.

Rafique advised the state to not shelter any entity and especially not "capitulate" when a group stages a sit-in.

PTI has turned 'politics into obscenity'

Addressing the same event, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said the PTI-led government had tuned "politics into obscenity".

"We never thought we would have to pay such a high price for tabdeeli (change)," he said, referring to the PTI's flagship motto.

"We have seen several things in the last three-and-a-half years [...] Shabbar Zaidi and Razak Dawood are now saying that the country is bankrupt."

"If the government does not accept its wrongdoing, how will the process of forgiveness begin?" he asked.