Nawaz Sharif still dreaming of becoming ‘Amirul Momineen’: Bilawal

Firing a fresh salvo at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, hours before the general elections, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the three-time former prime minister is still dreaming of becoming ‘Amirul Momineen’.

His remarks came as the battle lines were drawn between the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) and the PML-N for the February 8 polls.

In an interview with foreign media, Bilawal, who is also PPP-P’s candidate for the prime minister slot, alleged that the PML-N supremo wanted to pressurise “administration” to influence the election results.

The PPP chairman has been repeatedly accusing Nawaz of attempting to return to power for the fourth time via a backdoor. Last month, the former foreign minister had said that Nawaz was "relying on something other than people" to become PM.

Ending his four-year self-imposed exile in London, Nawaz returned to Pakistan in October last year to take a fourth shot at power.

During the interview, the PPP chairman said that the caretaker government and the administration were also “biased” in favour of Nawaz.

Responding to a question, Bilawal said: “PPP's alliance with PML-N is difficult.”

“This PML-N is no longer the party who had signed the charter of democracy. It is not the party whose slogan was ‘respect the vote’ but a PML-N [with a mentality] of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). [Nawaz] dreams of becoming Amirul Momineen.”

It is pertinent to mention here that the Charter of Democracy (CoD) was inked by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz in 2006 in London. One of the key points of the CoD was a joint struggle against the “dictatorship”.

The PPP stalwart, however, hoped that the caretaker government, despite PML-N’s pressure, would not interfere in the upcoming polls. He also expressed hope that the PPPP would form the next government after winning elections.

He further said that the upcoming elections should be free, fair, and transparent, adding that a level playing field should be given to all the political parties in the run-up to elections to restore the credibility of elections in the country.