Parliament first casualty of dictatorship: Nawaz
Addressing a public gathering at Qila Qasim Kuhna Bagh in connection with his election campaign, Sharif said such acts of a dictator would finally push the country to a split like the one in 1971. He said he had returned from Saudi Arabia to save Pakistan. He said vote to the Pakistan Muslim League-Q would strengthen Pervez Musharraf, who was an ‘unconstitutional’ president.
He said Musharraf was responsible for the May 12 carnage in Karachi, murder of several ‘innocent’ minor girls in Lal Masjid and unrelenting killing of ‘innocent Pakistanis’ in Wana, Waziristan and Balochistan.
Sharif said he was not against the army, but against the generals who caused the fall of Dhaka in 1971. He said he made Pakistan a nuclear power despite ‘immense pressure’ from abroad.
He held the erstwhile former government responsible for flour shortage, inflation, lawlessness and unemployment. He said deposed judges would be reinstated if the PML-N came into power.
Although Multan is Makhdoom Javed Hashmi’s hometown, people’s presence in the gathering was below estimates. It was learnt reportedly because of refusal of party ticket to a number of local leaders.
KHANEWAL: Sharif told a gathering in Khanewal that the Musharraf government condoned Rs107 billion loans during the last eight years, taking the country to the verge of destruction.
Looking out to police officials deployed around the gathering, Sharif asked them not to obey Musharraf. “You and I know very well Musharraf is an unconstitutional president.” He termed Musharraf his ‘worst enemy’. He asked people to “beware of the so-called Q-League”.
Citing ‘deteriorating’ law and order in Swat, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Islamabad, Sharif said Musharraf was responsible for all this. He praised lawyers for their struggle for the rule of law.
SAHIWAL: Talking to party workers in Sahiwal before his departure to Khanewal and Multan, Sharif said opposition parties taking part in the general election should unite to stop rigging by the erstwhile ruling party instead of wasting their energies on confronting the parties which boycotted the polls.
Sharif, who also met with various delegations here, said Pakistan was currently facing ‘worst crisis’ of its history. He asked PML-N ticket holders to take party workers along.
Sharif said the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-N had decided to take part in the elections keeping in view ground realities. “Had both parties announced boycott of the elections, President Pervez Musharraf would have again put in place a rubberstamp assembly and the country would have gone bankrupt.”