LAHORE   -  Sharing his reminiscenc­es of political struggle with party men, former prime minister and Pak­istan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif said Monday that he had spent more time in exile than in the PM House. 

Addressing a parlia­mentary board meeting, Nawaz Sharif expressed his frustration over the treatment he received, questioning how a per­son who was the prime minister in the morn­ing could be accused of hijacking at night, refer­ring to the plane hijack­ing case filed against him by former dictator General Pervez Mush­arraf after the October 1999 coup.

Nawaz Sharif empha­sised his commitment to upholding the consti­tution and law, lament­ing that he and his party faced repercussions from those who breached the con­stitution. He criticised the al­leged rigging in the 2018 elections, mentioning the mal­function of the Results Trans­mission System (RTS) and expressing disbelief that a leader who couldn’t build a single motorway was brought into power. Highlighting his government’s achievements, Nawaz Sharif mentioned the restoration of peace in Karachi and the construction of the Lo­wari tunnel in Chitral. Howev­er, he humorously questioned why people voted for other parties despite these accom­plishments. He said that his party had tolerated a lot of ex­cesses and fake cases were also registered against him.

He said the PML-N govern­ment had eliminated terrorism and established peace in Ka­rachi and added that it would make a motorway from Karachi to Hyderabad. “The PML-N built the Lowari tunnel in Chitral but votes were given to the Ja­maat-e-Islami. In PML-N’s ten­ure, electricity and petrol were inexpensive while the value of the rupee was far better than what is today,” he maintained.

Nawaz Sharif also men­tioned the false cases against PML-N leaders, citing the fab­ricated case of heroin smug­gling against Rana Sanaullah, which was later dismissed by the judges. Expressing disap­pointment over his removal from office, Nawaz Sharif stat­ed that an elected prime min­ister was replaced with a ‘se­lected’ one. He touched on the country’s economic situation, mentioning the reversal of de­cisions and expressing concern about Pakistan’s status among the world’s most populous countries. During the meet­ing, Nawaz Sharif outlined his government’s achievements, including the construction of motorways, repayment of for­eign loans, initiation of mega projects like CPEC, building dams, and ending load shed­ding. He pledged to continue working for the people, em­phasizing the party’s empa­thy for the poor and highlight­ing initiatives to provide free bread to those in need.

Earlier, the parliamentary board meeting, co-chaired by Nawaz Sharif and Mian She­hbaz Sharif, addressed mat­ters related to candidate interviews in Sindh prov­ince. PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz and other se­nior leaders participated, dis­cussing issues in Sindh, partic­ularly Karachi, and exploring seat adjustments with other political parties. The meeting also reviewed the possibility of forming a wider provincial electoral alliance with MQM, GDA, and JUI-F.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary Gen­eral Ahsan Iqbal said on Mon­day that PML-N Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had best record of serving the peo­ple of Sindh. Talking to me­dia here, he said that whenev­er Nawaz Sharif came to power he made unprecedented efforts to establish and maintain peace in Sindh. He said that in April 2022 a unity government was formed and it was not a political alliance. He said that unity gov­ernment was made on one point agenda and that was to save the country from default. He said all political parties would contest general elections with their own manifesto, adding that decision would be of people. He appealed to the people of Sindh to give a chance to the PML-N to serve them and the party would not disappoint them. To a question, he said, “PML-N respects all its party workers who keep their loyalty intact during hard times.”