Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday claimed that neither he violated laws of the land nor the constitution, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing 12th meeting of the PML-N’s parliamentary board in Lahore, he said that it was so unfortunate that on the morning of October 12, 1999, he was the country’s prime minister but was labeled a ‘hijacker’ in the evening. “Similarly, I was again the prime minister in 2017, but was ousted from power for not receiving salary from my son,” he said.
Nawaz said that Pakistan in 2017 was a prosperous country. “We had bid farewell to the IMF. We had repaid our foreign loans,” he said, adding, "Under my leadership, the PML-N government gave to the country a network of motorways and laid the foundation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).”
میرے خلاف بنائے گئے جھوٹے مقدمات کو 2,3 سماعتوں میں اٹھا کر باہر پھینک دیا گیا ہے۔ کہا گیا تھا کہ نوازشریف اور مریم نواز کو جیل سے باہر نہیں آنا چاہیے ورنہ ہماری 2 سال کی محنت ضائع ہوجائے گی۔قوم کو بھی پتہ لگنا چاہیے وہ کونسی 2 سال کی محنت تھی؟ ملک کو اس نہج تک پہنچانے کے ذمہ دار… pic.twitter.com/uNDPhri0FN
— PMLN (@pmln_org) December 19, 2023
The country, the former prime minister went on to say, was developing at a fast pace. “Had I been allowed to remain in power, Pakistan would have been way ahead of other countries,” he said, and claimed it would have become an Asian Tiger.
He claimed he fulfilled whatever promises he had made to the people before coming to power. “For four years, the PML-N government controlled the US dollar rate,” he said, and added, “The country’s exports grew when I was the PM.”
On the contrary, Nawaz said, the dollar rate increased by leaps and bounds once the PTI came to power.
2013 میں جب ہم آئے تو ملک دیوالیہ ہونے کے قریب تھا ہم اس کی ترقی کو 6.2 فیصد تک لیکر گئے , پالیسی ریٹ کو سوا 5 فیصد پہ لیکر آئے۔ آئی ایم ایف کو خدا حافظ کہا , دنیا تسلیم کررہی تھی کہ پاکستان اسی رفتار سے آگے بڑھتا رہا تو پاکستان دنیا کے ترقی یافتہ ملکوں کی فہرست میں شامل ہوجائے… pic.twitter.com/zeeinJtMca
— PMLN (@pmln_org) December 19, 2023
PML-N supremo said it was under the party’s government that Lowari Tunnel had been built. “But sadly, people of Chitral did not vote for us,” he said, adding, “Similarly it was due to my government’s actions that peace was restored in Karachi. But people of the city did not vote for us.”
How unfortunate it is, he said, that the PML-N launched projects of public welfare, but people voted for other parties. “It is time the people of Karachi and Chitral did some introspection as to why they voted for other parties when it was the PML-N which had served them,” he asserted.
Nawaz further said that it was last time when he was the prime minister that loadshedding was eliminated from the country. “Everybody is aware of the fact that power outages were a routine prior to 2013 when we came to power,” he added.
سمجھ نہیں آئی کہ 2017 میں ملک اتنا اچھا چل رہا تھا اور سارے کام اتنے اچھے چل رہے تھے لگ رہا تھا کہ پاکستان کی تعمیر نو ہورہی ہے۔ہم نے جو پالیسیاں بنائیں اس کے بہت دور رس نتائج نکلے , ترقی کی شرح میں روز بروز اضافہ ہوتا گیا سب جانتے ہیں وہ تسلسل جاری رہتا تو پاکستان اپنی منزل… pic.twitter.com/jkw3pJxJfn
— PMLN (@pmln_org) December 19, 2023
On the contrary, the former prime minister said, the PTI, which, in his words, came to power in 2018 following the RTS crash, could not even build a section of the motorway between Sukkur and Hyderabad. “Had we remained in power, the motorway would have been built in 2020 since its construction was included in our manifesto,” he said.
He was of the view that the PTI’s slogan of ‘change’ and ‘Naya Pakistan’ was a ‘fraud’.
PML-N supremo said if elected again, he would make the country stand on its own feet.
Reporter: Rao Dilshad Hussain