Home Latest News Nawaz Sharif Reiterates Criticism of Panama Papers Ruling

Nawaz Sharif Reiterates Criticism of Panama Papers Ruling

In interview from London, PMLN leader details the trials he suffered in the form of ‘revenge’

by Staff Report

Photo courtesy Twitter

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif on Sunday reiterated his criticism of the Panama Papers ruling that led to his disqualification from political office, questioning the “validity” of a judgment that had ousted him for not taking a salary from his son.

“Disqualified for life and removed from the PMLN presidency; this was revenge, not a court’s decision,” he said, alleging that the bid for “revenge” had damaged the entire country’s progress. “Who told you to do this?” he said, referring to the judges who had ruled against him. Stressing that all judges who had committed such “injustices” should be held accountable, he added: “We will have to hold these people accountable if we want to take Pakistan forward.”

The pre-recorded interview from London, where Sharif has been residing since leaving Pakistan in 2019 to seek medical treatment, was short on any new details or insight, delving primarily into the problems faced by the Sharif family following his ouster as the prime minister. Discussing the pain they had felt at the death of his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, he recalled how his daughter, PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz, had not met him or her brothers since Kulsoom’s death three years ago.

“I remember all those scenes, how my wife was on her deathbed and how cruelly we were treated—and those people [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] who were making fun,” he said. “I also remember, when I got to know that the sentence [in Avenfield reference] was being announced on the 6th [July 2018], I said ‘my wife is very ill and is in a coma.’ I don’t know what issue they had, but they didn’t listen to my plea.”

Reiterating allegations of the decision being fast-tracked to sideline him from the 2018 general elections, he said that once the judgment was announced, he and Maryam had both bid the ill Kulsoom farewell and returned to Pakistan. “What they did to us as soon as we landed is before you. Today, Maryam came after winning her case and proved the case and punishment were false,” he said, questioning why 5 years of their lives had been spent on a now-dismissed case. “Someone must be accountable, do I not have the right to ask this?” he said, lamenting that Maryam had then been arrested by NAB when she came to visit him at Kot Lakhpat Jail.

“This arrest was just done before my eyes to give me pain, otherwise there was no reason for this. Could this arrest not have happened at some other time?” he questioned, as he lashed out at PTI chief Imran Khan, emphasizing that the political victimization witnessed in his tenure had never happened earlier.

Recalling one instance, when he was in Judge Arshad Malik’s court, he said he had been informed that his wife’s health had worsened and that she was in intensive care. “So I was worried and I—there was no way in court to ask someone to check—so I went to jail and in the room of the jail superintendent I asked him to allow me to talk [to family], but they told me ‘we can’t’,” he regretted. “I pleaded with them to let me talk, but they didn’t allow it and took me to my cell and after three hours, they came and said ‘we are very sorry your wife has died’,” he said, adding the people could only imagine how his condition was upon hearing of his wife’s death while he was in jail.

According to Nawaz, he was then told that Maryam would be likewise informed and he had told them he would do it personally. “They reluctantly accepted and I went, and when I told her, she was in shock,” he said, lamenting that his wife’s illness had been no secret.

“She died and we were given this news in jail. These are events that are never forgotten. This loss can never be repaired or forgotten,” he said, stressing that political differences did not call for cruelty. The people who carried out this abuse, he alleged, were now being exposed. “U-turns on everything, the nation is seeing it,” he said, referring to the PTI’s Khan.

Political victimization

Answering a query on whether he believed the cases against him were part of a political vendetta, the PMLN leader claimed the question contained the answer and referred to an allegedly leaked audio clip of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar that has yet to be fully verified. “There is an audio leak and you can’t deny it, its forensic has also been carried out … do you need any greater evidence than this? Is there any bigger evidence than the things that judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said?” he said, lamenting that the courts took suo moto notices on many issues but had not looked into the injustices heaped on him.

“Who doesn’t know that these were fake and fabricated cases with no weight or evidence?” the three-time prime minister said, noting that years after his ouster, the courts were now describing lifetime disqualification as “draconian.” In this scenario, he said, the case against him also merited rectification.

Talking about the achievements of the PMLN government from 2013-2018, Nawaz claimed it had brought economic prosperity; ended loadshedding; increased employment; and eliminated terrorism. By contrast, he claimed, Pakistan was now “begging” other countries for even $1 billion.

The PMLN leader also slammed Khan’s “absolutely not” remarks with regard to U.S. airbases in the country, claiming it was the PMLN who had said that to Washington. “They offered us $5 billion but we said: ‘Absolutely not. We don’t want them,’” he said in an apparent reference to the nuclear tests conducted during his late ‘90s tenure.

Reiterating criticisms already voiced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz said Khan had “ruined” Pakistan’s ties with other nations. He said the recent alleged audio leaks of Khan and his aides proved their conspiratorial intent and wondered what else might come to light in future. Concluding his interview, he responded to a question on whether there was a chance of him becoming prime minister a fourth time by saying: “Hopefully.”

While the PMLN hailed the interview—a marked change from the ban on media coverage Nawaz had faced under the PTI—PTI leaders reiterated their stance of the “legitimacy” of an “absconder” being granted mass media coverage.

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