After securing legal victories, Nawaz hopeful of win in voters’ court on Feb 8

After securing major victories from courts, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif expressed hope in people to show support towards his party and give him victory in the general elections, which are set to take place next year.

The party says he is a candidate to become prime minister for a fourth term in the general elections slated for February 8, 2024. 

“I am hopeful that you [nation] will announce your judgments on February 8, [2024] and end the punishments meted out to you,” Nawaz said his maiden message to the "nation", following his return to the country after ending four years of self-imposed exile in London.

The recorded addressed was aired on different TV channels.

The PML-N supremo has time and again — since he returned to Pakistan in October — reiterated the call for holding those accountable who were behind his government’s ouster in 2017, claiming they not only punished him and his family, but Pakistan as well.

"My people, you don't need to reach out to any court as you yourself are the judge," the former premier said as he addressed his supporters for the first time since his legal victory in the form of exoneration from major corruption cases against him.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) quashed a graft conviction against Nawaz for the second time since he returned from the self-imposed exile.

The same court last month also acquitted the senior politician over corrupt practices linked to his family's purchase of upscale London flats.

However, latest relief from the high court on Tuesday, removed one of the last major hurdles for Nawaz to qualify to contest national elections.

He only needs the lifelong ban on holding any public office to be removed, to qualify to stand in the polls. 

'Victory for all'

Nawaz lamented that he had “never” inherited “good conditions” from his predecessors and that he was always dragged into courts after his governments ended.

But he was thankful that the courts cleared his name this time. “This isn’t just my victory, it’s a victory for all of us. You kept standing by me and my party through these testing times,” Nawaz told his supporters.

The three-time prime minister reminded his workers that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had started a witch hunt against him on the directions of a former Supreme Court judge.

“Those involved in these shameful games [overthrowing PML-N regimes] have been exposed now. We are witnessing testimonies coming forth from those quarters from where we never thought of,” he said.

“I was called Sicilian Mafia, God Father, and a lot of other derogatory words [by judges]. But I left all my troubles up to Allah,” he smiled.

The PML-N elder lamented that he had to stay in jail for a “long time”, endure “abuse”, and also face “character assassination”.

“I could not carry my father’s coffin. I could bury not my mother. I could not spend the last moments with my dying wife,” Nawaz lamented, but vowed that he would not back down from the tough conditions ahead.

'I was punished to bring the blue-eyed boy into power'

Without naming his top political rival, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, Nawaz said: " It was necessary to remove and punish me to bring a ladla (blue-eyed boy) but what crime was Pakistan punished for".

He said that this question has been fuming like a burning coal in his heart and mind what was the people's fault for which they were "punished".

The deposed premier went on to question why the country, which was progressing with a rate of 6.1% during the PML-N's government, was pushed into "economic destruction".

"We got rid of the International Monetary Fund [IMF] but the country was again pushed towards it," he said, asking why the foreign investment stopped in the country.

He wondered why Pakistan was made a "stronghold of terrorism" again after the PML-N government "crushed" the menace.

Nawaz also lamented the high inflation and unemployment in the country.