Abbottabad: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said that those who are talking about the ‘minus-one formula’ are unaware of the fact that Nawaz Sharif is the name of an ideology.
The former premier expressed his views while addressing a public gathering in Abbottabad and reiterated that no allegations of corruption had been proven against him, yet he had been ousted from his office. Sharif affirmed that such practices should be stopped now.
Kicking off his ruling party’s mass contact campaign, Sharif said on Sunday that no decision of the court can weaken his relationship with the masses.
- Nawaz Sharif | PML-N president
“The [large] number of people gathered here, and their support proves that no decision of the court can separate me and the people,” he told supporters while addressing a rally in Abbottabad.
The people, he added, expressed the same support for him in the 2013 general elections. “If someone thinks I will be defeated, then they are wrong,” he said. “I’m not one who is going to be defeated here.”
With Sunday’s rally, the deposed Prime Minister kicked off his PML-N drive to reach out to the masses. Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 following its landmark verdict in the Panama Papers case.
“Sit-ins were staged as soon as I assumed responsibilities as the Prime Minister,” he said, adding, “However, we continued to remained engaged in development work.”
Then, he added, the Panama “drama” was staged. “If I were a dictator, I would have disintegrated from you and left, but I promise not to leave you and I hope that the people gathered here won’t leave me either.”
On Saturday, the National Accountability Bureau in Lahore sent a reminder to the bureau’s chairman, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, to initiate the process of placing the names of all accused in the Avenfield corruption reference on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The rally was held at College Ground where people gathered in large numbers. Sharif earlier reached Islamabad in a special plane from Lahore and was received by Islamabad Mayor Shaikh Ansar Aziz at the airport.
Nawaz also met Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chief Mahmoud Khan Achakzai, his party ally, at the airport and exchanged views on current political situation.
