Nawaz’s return boosts workers’ morale ahead of election

LAHORE: The return of former Premier Nawaz Sharif along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz has not just upset the anti-PML-N mindset but also strengthened the resolve of the party workers ahead of the election.

Their return was inevitable as any move otherwise would have dented not just the morale of the party workers but also weakened and further complicated corruption cases they have been sentenced. It was the crux of the public reaction to the return of the father daughter duo from London to Lahore on Friday.

The provincial metropolis witnessed accelerated political activity in the PML-N camp and major opponent, the PTI.

“Nawaz Sharif is a brave leader who chose to face prison leaving his ailing wife behind,” commented a PML-N worker Javed Butt. “These are very testing times for Nawaz Sharif and he has proved loyalty to his country and its people,” he added. Fazal Shah, another PML-N supporter, was also in high spirits. According to him the move by the two leaders to come back and face prison had strengthened the party ahead of the July 25 polls. “Both of them, especially Maryam, could stay back keeping in view the health of Kulsoom BiBi but they did not,” he added. He also said the return of the leaders had boosted the morale of the party workers who would now campaign more enthusiastically.

However, for the supporters of the PTI it was another victorious day. Earlier this month, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to ten and seven years, respectively, in the Avenfield Apartments reference.

“The Sharifs had no other option but to come back and face prison,” commented Rana Tanveer—a PTI worker. “Otherwise they would have to face further embarrassment of arrests through red warrants,” he added.

Almost similar were the views of another PTI enthusiast Aleem Sheikh. “The former premier, his daughter and sons have been found guilty of corruption. They didn’t have any other option but to face the reality.” According to him the PML-N has lost public trust and it is going to badly affect the party in the general elections.

“I’m neither a PTI nor PML-N supporter. But the return of Nawaz Sharif despite his wife in hospital and no favorable environment in Pakistan is a great decision,” commented a citizen Naveed, on The Mall near Anarkali.

The return of the Sharifs attracted widespread social media attention both in favour and against with hashtags like #LahoreAirport, #Adialajail and #SherAyaSherAaya becoming trends on microblogging site Twitter for quite some time. “MNS (Muhammad Nawaz Sharif) has proved himself a brave leader and set an example for the rest of the leaders….” tweeted one twitterati.

Tweet by another user, however, was “Finallyyyyyyyyyy....... Historic moment..... Nawaz Sharif arrested Mubarak ho…”

While some twitterati shared funny images and GIFs vis-à-vis return of the PML-N leaders, majority of the party workers shared images and short videos showing as to how the PML-N convoys and supporters were stopped within the city and those coming from outside to reach Allama Iqbal International Airport to express solidarity with their leaders.