Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday elected Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the party’s permanent president.
Shehbaz, who had been serving as the interim president of the party, was elected unopposed during the central general council meeting as no one else from the party contested for the post.
The Punjab chief minister had submitted his nomination form to the party’s election commission earlier in the day. Many of PML-N senior leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were present at the meeting.
The post of the party president was left vacant last month after Nawaz was removed from the position by the apex court.
Newly-elected PML-N chief certain Nawaz Sharif will get ‘justice’ one day
Addressing the meeting after his election, Shehbaz Sharif thanked his elder brother for entrusting the important party position to him. He asserted that Nawaz Sharif was, is and will remain the party’s Quaid. “We have been blessed with a Quaid like Nawaz Sharif. No one can take the place of Nawaz Sharif in the party,” he said, adding that only Nawaz Sharif can be considered ‘political heir of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’. “I have been elected as the president of the PML-N. It is an important but difficult task for me. I am aware of the responsibilities that have been bestowed on me,” he said.
The PML-N president, however, cautioned that it was not a day to give and receive congratulations. “The world knows that our leader has been persecuted and discriminated against,” he said. “[But] my heart tells me that Nawaz Sharif will get justice [one day].”
The newly elected PML-N president lashed out at political opponents, saying they have not done anything but making tall claims while the incumbent government actually delivered to the people. “When we talk about the progress of other provinces, I feel incredibly sad about Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) because they have been ripped off their rights. Everyone has been utterly disappointed in Imran Khan … he promised the people of such big dreams and in reality after all these years, nothing happened,” he said.
Nawaz says Imran, Zardari are hiding ‘under cloak of the master’
Shehbaz said that PML-N also enjoyed support from the minorities. He stated that Imran Khan and Asif Zardari combined cannot defeat Nawaz Sharif under any circumstance.
As Nawaz formally announced Shehbaz as the party’s new president, the former prime minister said the PML-N manifesto would consist of only four words: “vote ko izzat do”. “You’ll be respected if the vote is respected,” asserted Nawaz. “When I look back, I don’t understand why a premier with millions of votes was removed from office,” he told the charged crowd of supporters.
Nawaz termed the coming together of PPP and PTI something the country has never witnessed before. “Even in defeat we have won, and even with your victory you have lost,” he decried the opposition that allied against his party in the Senate elections. “They are nothing more than wind-up toys that bowed in unison.”
He said the actions of the opposition leaders contradict their statements. “I feel bad for the people of KP … they have been fooled under the label of tabdeeli,” he said. “You see Punjab, and you see the other provinces, can you say they worked as hard as we did,” he questioned. “Is this the new Pakistan?” he further asked.
Hitting out at Imran Khan, Nawaz said, “You failed to bring about your promised change.” He said they are not leaders but an embarrassment, adding that they all hid under the ‘cloak of the master’. “You are a liar, a cheat and a hypocrite,” he said, adding that such people were an ‘insult’ to the country. “They’re the kind to sell the public for their personal gains we are the kind to die for the country,” he added.
Slamming new Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Nawaz said such people were controlled by other powers.
Calling on his supporters to make the upcoming general elections a referendum against his disqualification, he said, “You are witness to when I say I have no selfish reasons to this, but I am looking out for you, our future generations. If I am to suffer for the country, I will not do it for personal gains, but for the masses.”
The three-time premier recalled the dismal state of affairs when the PML-N took the reins of government in 2013. It is not easy to end an era of load shedding, he said, adding that his government had managed to achieve the seemingly impossible feat. “We worked hard and resolved to erase the darkness from this land,” he said, adding that the people who were experiencing 20-22 hours of load shedding daily a few years ago are now living their days in peace.
Nawaz said multiple motorways and road projects started by him have been completed or are nearing completion. He said the next 70 years for Pakistan should not be like the past 70 years, and sought the people’s support to work for the country’s betterment.
Published in Daily Times, March 14th 2018.
