In first election rally, Nawaz Sharif vows to put Pakistan back on its feet

HAFIZABAD: Ahead of nationwide polls next month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has made a maiden public appearance in any election rallies after political rivals started pointing out its weird absence since the party’s October 21 power show.

Just a day after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s ‘lion is hiding’ tirade, Nawaz broke his silence and formally joined his party’s electioneering in Hafizabad on Thursday in connection with the February 8 elections.

In his opening remarks, the three-time former prime minister said that his mission is putting "Pakistan back on its feet". He added that the country would be amongst prospering states if he was not ousted from power again and again.

He showered praises on the people of Hafizabad for warmly welcoming him.

“I had been ousted from power for not receiving salaries from my son,” the PML-N supreme leader said, adding, “Not a single youth would have left unemployed if our government had been allowed to complete its tenure, farmers would have seen prosperity at that time, power tariff would have not been hiked, and the country would have gotten rid of inflation.”

The former premier further said that Pakistan would have gained a prominent status globally if “I were not ousted from my [PM] office again and again.”

Nawaz, who returned to the country after ending his nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London, also announced that his only “mission” is putting Pakistan “back on its feet now”.

Addressing the rally, he vowed that they would develop Hafizabad like Lahore besides linking the district with the motorway network if elected to power.

The politico became the longest-serving prime minister for being in office collectively for more than 9 years. Nawaz had been elected to premiership thrice in 1990, 1997 and 2013 but never completed his five-year tenure.