Sharif terms ouster a conspiracy, says will become PM again
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday exuded confidence that he will be elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan for the fourth time.
Addressing a big gathering at Gujranwala city on his rally to Lahore, 67-year-old Sharif asked his supporters to pledge to come out on the roads with him to ensure the elected prime ministers of Pakistan are not humiliated anymore.
A five-member Supreme Court bench last month disqualified Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the prime minister to quit for the record third time.
"Conspiracies to oust me had begun some three and a half years ago and finally they (a reference to military establishment and judiciary) ousted me in humiliated manner. I am not a traitor. I am a patriotic Pakistani," Sharif said.
Sharif, who left Islamabad on Wednesday in a rally to reach his hometown Lahore to protest against his disqualification, said nowhere in the world is a prime minister ousted the way he is in Pakistan.
"Pakistan is an unfortunate country where 18 prime ministers had not been allowed to complete their tenure since partition while three dictators stayed in power for more than 30 years," he said.
Sharif
vowed
that
he
would
not
sit
back
home.
"I
will
be
on
roads
to
make
sure
the
birth
of
a
new
Pakistan
where
prime
minister
is
not
humiliated
this
way.
This
tradition
of
sending
premier
home
should
be
stopped
now.
And
I
will
make
sure
this
with
the
help
of
masses,"
he
said.
"I have brought my case to the court of people as I accept their decision. To rule the country is the right of 200m people of the country and not of those individuals who have power," he said.
Sharif also said he was stopped as "they" (his rivals) feared that he would come to power again after 2018 elections.
Sharif
stepped
down
after
being
disqualified
by
the
Supreme
Court
on
July
28
and
after
staying
in
Murree
and
Islamabad,
embarked
on
road
journey
to
his
home
in
Lahore
in
the
company
of
thousands
of
his
supporters.
He
was
in
the
third
day
of
his
journey
from
Islamabad
to
Lahore
via
the
Grand
Trunk
(GT)
Road
to
display
his
political
might.
According to the schedule of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Sharif is expected to spend the night in Gujranwala. He would leave for Lahore in the morning and is expected to reach there at 4 PM on Saturday.
PTI