Rigged results won’t be accepted: Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday said the country was heading towards pre-poll rigging and nobody would accept the election results.

Talking to the media outside the accountability court, he said some parties had been pushed to the wall, while there were no holds barred for others. Flanked by daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Safdar, Nawaz appeared before the accountability court in the Avenfield properties reference.

"If this continues to happen, then what kind of free and fair elections will be held? You should just forget about having free and fair elections," he said. Lamenting the remarks of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar that there was bad governance in the Punjab, he said everybody knew that governance in the Punjab was much better compared with the other three provinces. “I can’t understand the logic behind the statement that there is bad governance in the Punjab. Anyone who knows all the four provinces and even a layman will definitely say that governance in the Punjab is much better than in the other three provinces.

“Talking like this is equal to becoming a party to the elections which is not acceptable at all. "Disqualifying me from the party presidency was also part of pre-poll rigging and the treatment meted out to our senators negates the statement of chief justice that he wanted free and fair elections without delay,” Nawaz said.

Whatever the CJP said should come up in practical form, Nawaz said, adding that it was also being said that the general elections may be postponed. “I would say whose wish is this. Who wants to delay this election? The words being used against us by Imran Khan and Asif Ali Zardari are also being used by the judiciary. There should at least be a little difference between their words.”

Earlier, talking to the reporters inside the courtroom, Nawaz said he still stuck to his demand that the court proceedings of corruption references against him be telecast live. The PML-N Quaid said he would ask his counsel Khawaja Haris if an application could be filed in this regard.

At this, Maryam said the star prosecution witness Wajid Zia had endorsed their demand that the court proceedings against them should be telecast live. Responding to a question, Nawaz said there was no reason for loadshedding, as the PML-N government had added thousands of megawatts to the national grid.

“As a matter of fact with the increase in power production, the demand has also increased, as the industries, particularly cement and steel industry, have enhanced their production and as a result the power demand has also increased,” Nawaz said.

He said the economy was witnessing an upsurge but the July 28, 2017 decision of the Supreme Court created anarchy and uncertainty in the country. He said the rupee had depreciated while foreign debts had increased to the tune of billions. Senator Asif Saeed Kirmani congratulated Nawaz Sharif for the inauguration of new Islamabad International Airport.