Pakistan Muslim League-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Thursday held ex-army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Gen Faiz Hameed responsible for the current state of Pakistan in the form of installing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in 2018.
Talking to media personnel in London after a long time, Nawaz referred to his Gujranwala 2020 speech where he had named both generals, who were serving at the time, for allegedly rigging the 2018 elections.
He had blamed the military top brass for installing PTI Imran Khan as the prime minister in violation of the constitution, removing his government, muzzling the media, pressurising the judiciary and victimising opposition politicians.
When asked if he held the former chief of the army staff Gen Bajwa and ex-spymaster Gen Faiz responsible for the state of the country, he maintained that “everyone was aware” of who is accountable and that no faces or names were hidden.
“They have spun Pakistan around themselves and have played a disgusting joke on the country,” he said.
Nawaz stated that it was his “responsibility” to shed light on those responsible for cruelty in the country. He added that it was also his responsibility to make the populace aware and to “fix” the issues.
The former premier also called for a comparison between his tenure as prime minister and that of PTI chief Imran Khan to showcase how prosperous people were under the PML-N regime.
In a thinly veiled reference to Imran, Nawaz stated that the populace suffered under the “madman’s four years”.
Nawaz said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement took over the government after winning the vote of no-confidence to “save Pakistan from this madman” because “he had created a catastrophic situation for Pakistan.”
“We have taken over the government to help Pakistan come out of hardship. Otherwise, the situation created by him [Imran] had dragged us to the edge of destruction,” he added.
The PML-N leader continued that his party would help usher Pakistan out of difficulties and that it was not impossible for the country to “stand on its own feet”.
Nawaz further added that the people of Pakistan are well aware of the “faces and characters of the two retired generals who are believed to be behind implementing the Tabdeeli project originally envisioned by former intelligence chiefs General (retd) Shuja Pasha, General (retd) Zaheer-ul-Islam and their colleagues.”
He said he had discussed Pakistan’s current situation with Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Senator Dr Afnan Khan, MNA Javed Lateef, and others after the interior minister arrived in London to hold talks with the party leader.
