Nawaz Sharif is not corrupt, says Nisar

KARACHI: Disgruntled senior leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Monday said Nawaz Sharif’s character was above board, as he never committed corruption.

The PML-N leader, who has been associated with the party for over three decades, was expressing his opinion in an interview with a private television channel earlier today. Nisar said he would not have worked with Nawaz and supported him if he had committed corruption.

He said there was no more freedom in the PML-N to have a different opinion. Discussing the party's incumbent leadership, the veteran politician said that he would not become part of any decision that makes Maryam Nawaz the party's leader.

In an apparent reference to comparisons between Maryam and Benazir Bhutto, the former interior minister said that after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's death, there was no other option but for Benazir to lead the party in the absence of her brothers, who were out of the country at that time.

Speaking about his relationship with Imran Khan, Nisar said that some people point fingers at his friendship with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson when they are unable to find anything against him.

He was apparently referring to some leaders of the PML-N who have denounced Nisar for openly opposing Nawaz Sharif’s stance on the party's political strategy following the Supreme Court's July 28 verdict which ousted the former prime minister from holding public office.

“My relationship with Imran goes all the way back to school,” he said. The veteran politician stressed that he did not need a political party’s ticket to contest the elections. “I do not need anyone’s ticket to contest elections,” he said. “I have never applied for a ticket throughout the course of my life.”

He said that he could criticise PML-N or PTI politically, but not for personal reasons. "I told Nawaz Sharif that I cannot [personally] criticise Imran Khan. This is a 30-year-long association, it should take 30 years for this association to end," he said.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Nisar said he had 'suggested' to Nawaz Sharif that PML-N should not move towards fighting with the judiciary and other state institutions. The former interior minister also refused to respond to questions about his disagreements with the party leadership.