By Muhammad Luqman
Former Prime Minister and Supremo of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will travel to his home town, Lahore next week by road to show his political power, just days after he stepped down from the office in the light of Supreme Court verdict.
Lahore Chapter of his party has made arrangements to accord rousing welcome on his first visit to the town considered to be the bastion of the ruling party after his ouster from the power on July 28.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment in the Panama Papers case, disqualified Sharif under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution over his failure to disclose un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from a UAE-based company.
On his arrival in the city on Wednesday, former Prime Minister will be received by a rally of party workers . Nawaz Sharif will go to the shrine of the 11th century saint, Data Gunj Buksh before going to his Raiwind residence, some 25 kilometres off Lahore.
“No evidence of corruption could be found against me despite the investigation of my father’s company records,” Nawaz Sharif said in an informal conversation with journalists in Islamabad.
He said that how he could declare a salary which he had never received his son’s company.
Nawaz Sharif has arrived in Islamabad from Murree where he had been staying since he vacated Prime Minister’s House on Sunday last.
Ousted Prime Minister said , though he has a lot to say on the circumstances surrounding his ouster, he wishes to remain silent for now.
Nawaz Sharif warned that there will be a state of anarchy in the country if it “did not walk on the right path”,. Sharif said Pakistan is right now on its way to prosperity and will continue to grow.
The thrice-deposed premier also stressed the need for a political consensus. He emphasised the need for unity amongst political parties and recalled that he had accepted the PPP’s mandate in Sindh after the 2013 elections.
“Even during anti-government protests and sit-ins [led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf], we never took an offensive stance,” he recalled.
The PML-N has decided to file a review petition against the verdict. However, the party’s troubles are not over as it gears up for the by-election in Sharif’s Lahore constituency — NA-120 — on September 17.
