Blasting the government, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said the party president, Shehbaz Sharif, was arrested instead of Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Salim Bajwa, in a reference to a news story which claims that he and his family own businesses worth millions of dollars in the US.

Nawaz Sharif said everyone would have to admit that the 2018 general elections were rigged, adding that the Parliament was currently run by someone else.

“Our assembly is compromised,” said the former prime minister who was addressing the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting in Lahore via video link from London.

https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/1311261441412993024 

Although Nawaz’s speech wasn’t broadcast for the general public, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who is also one of the vice-presidents of the party, shared some video clips of the speech.

The PML-N supremo also recalled that a military official was filmed by a journalist as he left the accountability court during the hearing of references against him at an accountability court.

https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/1311266414582550529 

Later, the official Twitter account of PML-N shared the complete speech in which Nawaz said the treatment faced by the PML-N, including Shehbaz Sharif, was painful.

Shehbaz remained steadfast and played his role in strengthening the party narrative, he added.

https://twitter.com/pmln_org/status/1311277269067771908 

He stressed the need to be clear on the narrative and said one had to decide whether the party was following the right path. 

Whether one should accept rigging as destiny and move forward, Nawaz questioned and added that it had been happening during the past 70 years.

He also mentioned that the courts were under pressure to get desired verdicts and the Parliament had been turned into a puppet and rubber stamp.

Nawaz asked whether one should accept that he was rightfully removed from the office and the party leadership and expressed his annoyance over the remarks passed an Islamabad High Court bench on Wednesday.

He praised the role played by Shehbaz, Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal as well as the bureaucrats in executing the development projects during the last stint of PML-N.

We accomplished everything required by the country despite the sit-ins, he remarked. 

Meanwhile, the PML-N supporters were disappointed that the former prime minister’s speech wasn’t being shown live on social media. Many of them kept asking others how and where they could watch the address. 

Replying to one of them, Maryam said it would be aired, but not live, because of being an internal meeting.

https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/1311264472170987521   

Earlier, the PML-N had announced that the CEC and CWC emergency meetings had been scheduled for Sept 30 and Sept 31 respectively at the party’s central secretariat in Lahore.

The move is part of the efforts to devise an aggressive policy for future line of action following the arrest of Shehbaz Sharif and in light of the decisions taken earlier at the APC.

As the PML-N has opted for an aggressive approach as manifested by Nawaz’s recent address to the APC, the party is coming under further pressure with the NAB summoning former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi just a day after the arrest of Shehbaz.   

London has become the hub of PML-N’s political activities after Nawaz Sharif decided to fully take part in the party affairs. He has also started making telephonic contacts with the PML-N leaders and lawmakers as well as the leadership of opposition and likeminded parties.