On Saturday, Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), stressed the need to fix ties with India, Afghanistan, and Iran. He said that the country couldn’t expect to be taken seriously on the world stage if its neighbors were angry with it.
The three-time former prime minister said that his party wanted to improve ties with India, Afghanistan, and Iran and make ties with China stronger at the sixth meeting of the party’s parliamentary board in Lahore. He said that people tried to “sabotage” the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) after his government, which was a hint at the time of the PTI government.
The leader of the PML-N admitted that the country has had a lot of problems over the last four years. There was “robust development” during the “positive period” he was prime minister in 2017.
But he was upset that some people were able to stop the progress that was being made, which was hurting Pakistan’s wealth.
As a result of bad economic management that started with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in 2019, Nawaz said that inflation started to rise again in 2022, when his brother Shahbaz Sharif took power. The elder brother said, “If Shahbaz Sharif hadn’t taken charge, the country would have defaulted.”
The former prime minister said he was sad that the country’s leadership had been “given over to an incompetent person.” He also said that his government had been removed from power many times, despite “PML-N’s contributions in various fields such as economy, defence, and foreign affairs.”
Nawaz thought about why he was kicked out in 1993 and 1999 and asked, “Was it because we ran things well that we were kicked out?” Was it because we didn’t want the Kargil war? “A choice that turned out to be right in the end,” he said.
His “commitment to national security” included holding nuclear tests even though they were under a lot of pressure. The leader of the PML-N party said that two Indian prime ministers had visited Pakistan during two different PML-N governments.
Nawaz said that the people who got the country into this mess should be held responsible. He also asked why the country was being treated in a way that went against the values of every proud Pakistani. He stressed that the country belonged to the people who live there and to future generations as well.
The PML-N leader had spoken at the fifth parliamentary board meeting of the party the day before. He said that the party wasn’t trying to get power, but rather wanted those who were responsible for putting him in “fabricated” cases that got him fired as prime minister in 2017 to be held accountable.
“This [accountability] is needed so that people can know the truth and justice can win,” he said at the meeting.
His brother, Shehbaz Sharif, who is President of the PML-N, and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, who is Senior Vice President of the party, were with him.
Rana Sanaullah, President of the PML-N in Punjab, was also there.
The £190 million settlement, which is also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, involved former prime minister Imran Khan. Nawaz called it the “biggest corruption scandal in the history of the country” and said there was no question about it.
The leader of the PML-N seemed to be making fun of the former head of the PTI when he said that the person who accused others of theft and robbery was actually the “biggest thief” himself.
Nawaz said that both good and bad times were a part of life and that the PML-N had not given up, even though they were being treated unfairly.
The man who was prime minister three times said that he wanted to get Pakistan out of its current problems and back on track with growth.
Nawaz told people who wanted to get into politics that they should only do so if they wanted to help the country get back on the path of progress. He went on to say that people who want to run for office should be determined to change the lives of the people in the country.
