ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has sarcastically questioned the delay in announcement of judgement in cases against Imran Khan and other PTI leaders.
Talking to media persons informally before the Accountability Court hearing, Nawaz Sharif stressed that rules of game should be applied equally on every one.
“Our cases are decided swiftly , when the decisions on ‘their’ cases would be decided” Nawaz Sharif questioned?
The former Prime Minister said that corruption scandals of Imran Khan, Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan are also surfacing now.
Nawaz also hit out at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, a PTI leader, saying he used official vehicles to lead rallies against the federal government during the 2014 sit-in. He said his government delivered despite Dharnas which continued since 2014.
“We delivered despite incessant sit-ins”, he said while adding, “sit-ins are still being staged under different guises”.
He said PTI created hurdles in smooth functioning of the government. He said despite all the hurdles, the PML-N government eliminated load shedding and terrorism from the country.
Referring to the rejection in the National Assembly on Tuesday of the Elections Amendment Bill 2017, which sought to restrict disqualified parliamentarians from heading a political party after 163 members voted against the proposed change in the legislation, he described it as victory of principles.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N president lamented the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) moving of the amendment bill, saying, “the PPP’s support for this bill hurt me. The party’s action has made me question their democratic credentials”.
He added that the party’s past struggles and sacrifices for democracy do not sit well with their present action of supporting an anti-democratic law.
Nawaz Sharif came down hard on the ruling party’s harshest critic, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He said there is nothing democratic about the party, adding that the PTI is not even a political party due to its link with dictators.
Nawaz Sharif said the recent verdicts by the courts have badly affected the economy of the country.
The disqualified premier took serious notice of terms of ‘Sicilian mafia’ and ‘godfather’ in the judgement against him and said these are not according to the dignity of the court.
Nawaz Sharif arrived in the Accountability court alongwith his daughter Maryam Nawaz while his son in law Capt Rtd Safdar reached there a bit later in a separate vehicle.
Despite being exempted from appearance, the former premier and his daughter, Maryam, attended Wednesday’s hearing and filed fresh applications for exemption from appearance on later dates
As the hearing began, Maryam submitted a request asking the court to alter her exemption period. The former premier’s daughter sought exemption from court appearance from December 5, 2017 to January 5, 2018. INP