Fida Hussnain
After visiting Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) few days ago, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo and former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reached Sialkot to have an interaction with the traders and to deliver a speech at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Saturday.
The traders’ community of both the cities is so vibrant and has strong influence in their respective areas, and perhaps it is the very reason that Nawaz Sharif preferred to visit them first before going to the public directly ahead of the general elections.
If Nawaz Sharif’s speeches at both the forums are analyzed, they show that he counted the achievements of his previous governments, mentioned those whom he called disrespectful towards the parliaments, and removal of the former prime ministers. He was of the view that the current economic situation, sky-rocketing inflation, poverty and unemployment was only because of disrespecting the former prime ministers and removing his governments.
In his speeches, he preferred not to mention Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan but discussed him indirectly while criticizing him and his government’s policies. When he was at LCCI, Nawaz Sharif said, “We committed wrongs to our prime ministers and parliament that’s why we are facing such a situation,”. He also said, “whom we handed over the country and then the currency devalued; rather, the entire economy reached the verge of collapse,”. In the last statement, he was referring to Imran Khan without mentioning him.
During his speech at SCCI, Nawaz Sharif said, “Those who brought him [Imran Khan] are equally responsible [for the current state of the country],”.
Besides it, during his interaction with the traders of Sialkot, the former prime minister voiced concerns about the integrity of the 2018 elections, saying that, “Despite the failure of the Results Transmission System (RTS), our party, the PML-N, emerged victorious. However, deliberate delays in announcing results were orchestrated, casting doubts on the fairness of the electoral process,”.
Sharif expressed concerns over denial of the opportunity to form the provincial government in Punjab, despite winning a majority. He remarked, “Even as the largest political party in the Punjab Assembly, we were sidelined, and maneuvers were employed to bring individuals on private planes to facilitate formation of the PTI government,”.
The PML-N supremo also emphasized, “In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Imran Khan secured his position with a majority of just four votes, including support from the MQM and the Balochistan Awami Party,”.
Expressing broader concerns about the impact on the nation’s development, Sharif questioned, “How can a country progress when its prime ministers face incarceration, exile, or the gallows?”
Reflecting on his personal experiences, he wryly added, “I went from being the morning’s prime minister to being labeled a plane hijacker after the 1999 coup against my government,”.
The speeches of the PML-N supremo either involved the causes of his governments’ removal in the past or the PTI chairman whom he mostly preferred not to mention but could not stop himself from directly or indirectly mentioning him.
The incessant events, since Nawaz’s arrival in Lahore from self-imposed exile in London, including protocol and welcome at the airport, support to hold a powerful show at Minar-e-Pakistan and removal of all hurdles in his way, especially the legal ones give an “impression of support”. The party’s leaders, on many occasions, have also given an impression that the system is there for it. Rana Sanaullah was of the view that they would get a simple majority to form the next government in Punjab.
Though the impression, according to many political pundits and analysts, favored the PML-N on many fronts, the common worker, however, is still waiting for an impactful “narrative” ahead of the general election.
