• Promises a ‘revolutionary’ roadmap
• Stays the night in Pindi after rally falls behind schedule
• Bombproof container, health unit accompany cavalcade

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: In his first public speech after his ouster, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday promised his supporters he would give them a revolutionary roadmap to rescue the country from the quagmire it was in.

On the first leg of his hom­eward journey, Mr Sharif’s cavalcade had only arrived in Rawalpindi at night, covering a mere 15km after moving at a snail’s pace through the capital.

Speaking to participants of his Lahore-bound rally at Rawalpindi’s Committee Chowk, he said the country needed a revolution and asked the people to support him in his endeavour.

“This rally will be the beginning of that revolution,” he said, adding that the people had rejected the decision to disqualify him.

“One court handed down that decision, while this, the people’s court, has made its own decision,” he said.

“Is this not a violation of your mandate? Promise me you will protect your mandate; that you will ensure that your mandate is respected.” Praising the people for their rousing welcome, he said: “Rawalpindi’s decision has always been the country’s decision.”

Saying that he had no aspirations to regain office, he maintained that the country had been “trifled with” for 70 years.

“No democratic government has completed its tenure. The nation is not prepared to tolerate such trifling anymore. My hands are clean,” he said, before sarcastically announcing the return of Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri. “Maulvi sahib is back from Canada. Who is he and why is he here?”

Earlier, the former PM began his GT Road trip from Punjab House after officially declaring that his successor, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, would stay in office for the 10 months remaining in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) term.

Mr Sharif was seen off by PM Abbasi, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and a number of senior party leaders, including ministers and parliamentarians, when he set off for Lahore via GT Road, despite warnings by security agencies.

Before leaving, he held an informal meeting with party leaders and confirmed reports that his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, would continue as Punjab Chief Minister, while someone else from the party would contest the September 17 by-election on his old NA-120 seat.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan said that Mr Sharif had officially conveyed his decision on the matter.

The absence of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from the meeting, and then later from the rally throughout the day, was conspicuous. A number of PML-N leaders, when asked the reasons for the senior leader’s absence, expressed inability to speak on the matter.

Though the party had not disclosed where the former PM would be stopping along on the way, they expected Mr Sharif would reach Lahore in three days i.e. by Friday. In his speech at Committee Chowk, Mr Sharif also seemed unsure of the timeframe of his journey.

After a nearly three-hour delay in setting off and with the rally setting a slower-than-expected pace, party leaders told Dawn on Wednesday night that it may take around six days to reach Lahore at this rate.

Due to the slow pace of the rally, organisers had to change their plans and arrange for Mr Sharif to stay the night in Rawalpindi’s Punjab house, instead of Jhelum, which he originally expected to reach by night time.

Speaking to a TV channel, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that the participants of the rally were actually PML-N voters who had come of their own accord, and expressed the hope that the rally would continue to swell when it took to GT Road, which passes through a number of PML-N strongholds.

Interestingly, Mr Sharif pulled a fast one on the mediapersons who had been waiting for him to set off outside Punjab House. While the press corps waited in the hot and humid weather, the PM’s cavalcade set off down Agha Khan Road, crossing the official residence of the chief justice on the way.

As he made his way down the capital’s main arteries, he was greeted by multitudes of charged party workers, mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree and Azad Kashmir, who took up the cry “Wazir-i-Azam Nawaz Sharif” upon seeing his armoured vehicle.

Mr Sharif was scheduled to make a brief speech, but reportedly cancelled the plan due to security reasons.

The rally, consisting of around 800 to 1,000 cars and other vehicles, reached the Faizabad interchange around 6pm, covering a little over 11km in six hours.

A specially-built bombproof container is also part of the convoy. Mr Sharif spent some time in the container, which is fitted with a public address system, at Faizabad before returning to his car.

A number of PML-N leaders, including Saad Rafique, Mushahidullah Khan, Talal Chaudhry, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz and Asif Kirmani, made brief speeches at various points using megaphones.

Daniyal Aziz said that the rally had now turned into a referendum and the people had rejected the Supreme Court verdict.

“Nawaz Sharif has implemented the [court’s] decision, but the people of Pakistan have not accepted it,” Talal Chaudhry said.

Commenting on reports that the party had failed to draw large numbers, Mohammad Mehdi, a member of PML-N’s media team, said that most people had come to greet their leader of their own accord and that no transport had been provided to them for this purpose. “That’s why you may not see people travelling in buses and trucks, like in other parties’ rallies,” he said.

Strict security arrangements had been made for the rally and even a helicopter was used to provide security cover to the participants.

The Punjab government has also taken a number of measures to facilitate participants — a mobile health unit has been prepared, which includes a team of doctors who will provide medical services to participants in case of emergencies.

Political observers say the PML-N is banking on this rally to regain some much-needed political support in the wake of the challenges it has been facing after the July 28 Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case.

But on Wednesday morning, the ruling party had to face embarrassment when the scheduled session of the National Assembly could not get under way due to lack of quorum. Only three PML-N MNAs — Sheikh Aftab, Ramesh Vankwani and Mian Abdul Mannan — were present in the house, alongside some JUI-F members and a host of opposition politicians.

The lower house has been summoned to meet again this morning (Thursday), where a similar situation is expected to arise.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2017