Nov 24 protest: Imran has brought disrepute to country, says Nawaz

LONDON: PMLN President Nawaz Sharif has said that former prime minister Imran Khan failed miserably to deliver when he was in govt and reigned over an era of inhuman and barbaric treatment to his opponents.

He said that Imran Khan is giving the “final call” for the 24th of this month as a desperate measure. Reacting to jailed PTI founder Imran Khan’s “final protest” call, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif asked why people would take to the streets on his call when the former premier did nothing except “bringing disrepute to the country” during his nearly four years in power.

“What Imran Khan has done during his tenure that people would take to the streets on his call. Tell me a single [development] project that he could proudly present as evidence of development during his tenure,” the former premier said in an informal interaction with reporters in London.

The PTI founder announced a protest march to Islamabad on November 24, his lawyer and sister said on Wednesday.

“Tell me, can Imran say he has constructed a motorway for Pakistan, brought a project for Pakistan, established power pants or ended loadshedding […] His performance is zero,” Nawaz said. Instead of taking measures for the country’s development, the PML-N president said, the incarcerated PTI founder conspired with judges such as Saqib Nisar to disqualify him back then in 2016.

He further said that Imran damaged the democracy in the country. Nawaz noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is making an all-out effort unturned to recover the country’s economy, prompting “fruitful results” with economic indicators improving.

“Pakistan has come out of difficulties and is now on the path of prosperity,” he said, adding that obstacles were being created in the way of development. He went on to say that the PMLN suffered the worst victimisation during Imran’s tenure, adding that the PTI founder along with former army chief General (retd) Bajwa and former ISI chief Faiz Hameed “victimised us in every possible way”.

Nawaz Sharif is set to return to Pakistan on the weekend with his daughter and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.