close
Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Reverse the court by vote’

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir & Nisar Mahmood
February 05, 2018

PESHAWAR: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said he had burnt his boats and asked the people to give so many votes to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the verdict against him stands nullified.

"Give us so many votes that the verdict against me is nullified and a new age of progress can begin in the country," Nawaz Sharif, who is also the president of the PML-N, said while addressing a huge public meeting here.

Nawaz Sharif urged the people to make a promise by raising hands that they would also burn their boats and join him in the just cause to restore the respect of vote. The PML-N president said he was punished for putting the country on the path to development, ending the power crisis, eradicating terrorism and initiating mega projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Asking the people to support him for ensuring the sanctity of the vote, he said the verdict disqualifying him for not taking salary from his son had no justification.

Amid sloganeering of 'Love You' and 'Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif', he said the huge gathering showed that the people had rejected the verdict that removed him from the premiership. He reiterated his resolve to continue striving for the establishment of a system based on justice to eradicate poverty and terrorism and provide jobs to the youth.

He said the people were aware of the fact that nobody had the right to steal their mandate. He said that if voted to power, the PML-N would enact laws empowering the parliament.

Lashing out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, he said the master of lies and allegations was declared 'Sadiq' and 'Ameen'. "He tells lies day and night. I salute those who declared him Sadiq and Ameen.”

He said that the Ladla (favourite) is now lying on the reports that he used official helicopter for personal engagements.

Nawaz Sharif said that a man who misused the resources of the provincial government was called truthful and honest. "Where is the new KP, 350 dams, one billion trees and electricity the PTI had promised in its election campaign?" he asked. He said Imran Khan spread hatred andwasted time on useless sit-ins and protests.

Nawaz said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even lacked a forensic science laboratory, but the PTI leaders claimed about establishing state-of-the-art hospitals. He reminded that four-year-old Asma's body samples were sent to the Punjab Forensic Laboratory for DNA test.

Asma was sexually abused and killed in Mardan, but her killer hasn't been identified yet. Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N would ensure free of charge medical treatment and shelter the homeless after winning the 2018 general elections. He urged the people not to be misled in the name of 'change' promised to them in KP.

Congratulating the PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam and other party leaders for arranging the well-attended public gathering, he said the historic meeting was manifestation of the fact the people of KP had rejected the so-called slogan of change and reposed confidence in the PML-N.

He called federal ministers Talal Chaudhry and Daniyal Aziz to the dais and asked the people do they accept contempt of court notices issued to them. He pointed out that it was being said that Nawaz Sharif would be disqualified for life, but the court of the people would never accept it.

Nawaz Sharif promised the gathering that those without houses would be provided housing by the government, and that lesser-privileged people would be given health cards for free medical treatment.

The PM's Health Card Scheme was rolled out by Nawaz -- then PM -- in 2016 in Quetta. He told the gathering that the scheme had been taken to Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab but that the KP government declined to work with the federal government to bring the scheme to the province.

"We will come to your doorsteps and resolve all your problems," the former premier vowed. "Vote for us," he urged attendees. "Give us so many votes that the verdict against me is nullified and a new age of progress can begin in the country."

Nawaz Sharif said that he wouldn’t hold back despite any consequences and has come out to uphold justice in the country. “The judiciary’s verdict to oust me has hampered development of the country,” he said.

In her address, Maryam Nawaz said the people of KP were known for their courage and they would choose a brave leader. She said the one who told lies and levelled allegations against others couldn't be the leader of such brave people.

Maryam Nawaz said that when Nawaz Sharif was building motorways, power projects and metro service and undertaking other development projects, the so-called agents of change wasted time by holding useless 'dharnas' to oust elected government. She said the mammoth gathering in Peshawar was a referendum on Nawaz Sharif and it has declared him Sadiq and Amin. She said lion will also roar in KP.

She said that had the PTI served this province during the last four and a half years, thousands of people would not have turned up at the public meeting. She remarked that there were no empty chairs at the venue like that of the combined opposition's recent public meeting in Lahore.

Criticising the PTI-led government, she said where was the promise of 350 dams, generating thousands of megawatts of electricity, international level schools and hospitals. She said Imran Khan was hiding in the mountains when dengue fever broke out in KP.

She added that the accused in Asma's murder case in Mardan, Asma Rani's assassination in Kohat and the incident involving Sharifan Bibi in Dera Ismail Khan were still at large. "This showed the incompetence of the KP government," she argued. She asked the people to express their revenge by voting the PML-N to power in the 2018 general elections.

Maryam said the city had decided in favour of Nawaz Sharif. She criticised KP Police for failure in Asma Rani murder case, adding that Imran Khan criticised Sindh and Punjab police forces. “But we will not condemn KP Police, they are our force,” she said. “Imran Khan may be incompetent, the KP Police are not.”

Speaking on the occasion, Amir Muqam said that no power on earth could remove Nawaz Sharif from the hearts of the people. He said the huge gathering had declared Nawaz Sharif as truthful and honest.

He said Imran Khan didn't bother to visit the houses of victims of the recent incidents in Mardan, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan. He thanked the participants, saying they proved that KP belonged to the PML-N. He also came hard on Pakistan People's Party leader Asif Ali Zardari and said the PPP fielded five candidates for Senate election from KP though it had only five MPAs in the province.

The PTI dissident MPA Babar Salim, belonging to Swabi district, announced joining the PML-N. He reposed confidence in the leadership of Nawaz Sharif. Babar Salim originally belonged to the provincial minister Shahram Taraki's Swabi-based Pakistan Awami Jamohoori Ittehad, which later merged into the PTI.

Prominent among those who were sitting on the stage were Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi, federal ministers Talal Chaudhry, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz and Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, MNAs Capt (R) Muhammad Safdar and Dr Ibadullah, senators Asif Kirmani and Abbas Afridi, former chief minister Pir Sabir Shah and local party leaders Haji Afzal and Nasir Musazai.