File photo of PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif speaking with media in London
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) President Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said the electoral campaign of his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, will focus on the economy, with an aim to revive development in the country if the party is elected into power.
Addressing media after a meeting of the PMLN leadership in London, Shehbaz reiterated that Pakistan had been prospering during Nawaz’s last tenure as prime minister—from 2013 to 2017, when he was disqualified by the Supreme Court—and had yet to recover from the halt brought on by his ouster. To a question, he reaffirmed that Nawaz would return to Pakistan on Oct. 21.
“The program is final for Oct. 21 and Mian Nawaz Sharif is returning to Pakistan. There will be a historic welcome for him,” he said, urging all PMLN representatives, leaders and workers to prepare for Nawaz’s return in Lahore. “There are many who wish to meet their leader in London but now they should plan to meet him in Pakistan and welcome him there,” he added.
“Nawaz Sharif is the builder of Pakistan. He ended 20-hour loadshedding, facilitated billions in investment into CPEC, produced electricity of 12,000 megawatts, boosted employment, agriculture and exports; industries started working again; inflation was at its lowest; GDP was higher than 6.5%,” he maintained. “Nawaz Sharif is returning to continue that same journey for prosperity in the country, for the people of Pakistan,” he added.
The PMLN president’s statements were echoed by former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who claimed the party had taken Pakistan to new heights during its government from 2013-2018. “We turned around Pakistan’s economy and made the Pakistan Stock Exchange into one of the best-performing markets after winning elections in 2013,” he told media in London. “Within 3 years, GDP growth and reserves increased. Our narrative is that before the Panama and Dawn Leaks conspiracies, Pakistan became the world’s 24th largest economy and Pakistan was set to become a premier club of the world,” he added.
Reiterating that the “Imran Khan experiment” had damaged Pakistan’s economy, he stressed that the PMLN had revived Pakistan under Nawaz’s leadership and would do so again if it were given the mandate to do so. “Our [election] narrative is to reverse the destruction caused by the Imran Khan government,” he added.