News Desk |
Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has said that he is not a seer or a fortuneteller but he knows Imran Khan’s downfall is imminent. “I am no saint or a fortune teller, but Imran Khan will soon see his downfall,” imprisoned Sharif told visitors at Kot Lakhpat Jail on Thursday.
He said that things would have been different if his government was allowed to continue ruling the country, adding that the “selected” prime minister’s policies have put the public into trouble. Sharif said that solid evidence was available against Imran Khan and his sister Aleema Khan and the duo would soon face accountability.
Sharif was the second world leader, along with the former prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, to resign as a result of the leak.
“Imran Khan is a player who will soon be thrown out of the stadium by spectators. His Bani Gala residence is in the midst of corruption. Imran should be ashamed of himself,” the visitors quoted Sharif as saying. Sharif said that the Indian prime minister came to Pakistan during PML-N’s tenure, adding that he didn’t even invite anyone for his oath-taking after being re-elected.
“We came into power through the public’s mandate and they [PTI government] do not have that. I am not a fortuneteller, but I know Imran Khan’s downfall is imminent,” he reiterated. In addition, he said, Khan was an incompetent person and to hide his incompetence, he was blaming the previous government. He claimed that Khan’s incompetence has brought the country to the edge of destruction.
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On PM Khan’s announcement that an inquiry commission would be formed to investigate loans taken in last ten years, Sharif said his party would cooperate with the commission and will provide all details. Sharif said he invested money that the country had borrowed on the development and welfare of the country.
“We had said goodbye to the IMF and they are bowing down in front of them. The PML-N had left full coffers made motorways, eliminated terrorism and reduced inflation,” he said.
Sharif, Panama and courts
Sharif remained prime minister of Pakistan from 1990 to 1993, from 1997 until a coup in 1999 and from 2013 till the Supreme Court removed him from office in July 2017 on account of failing to disclose part of a salary drawn from his son’s company located in UAE.
Sharif said that solid evidence was available against Imran Khan and his sister Aleema Khan and the duo would soon face accountability.
Later, the Supreme Court ruled that July 2017 decision to oust Sharif meant that he will have to stay away from politics for the rest of his life. He was ousted by SC after the Panama Papers leaks revealed that his children allegedly owned offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and that they used them to buy properties in London, UK.
Panama Papers, a trove of leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca implicated dozens of politicians and powerful international figures in shady offshore business dealings. Sharif was the second world leader, along with the former prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, to resign as a result of the leak.
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After his cases were sent to an accountability court in Islamabad for trial proceedings, he was convicted in two NAB cases – Avenfield Apartments and Al Azizia Steel Mills references – for not disclosing sources of income.
Sharif has always denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the charges are politically motivated. After being convicted in the London properties reference by the accountability court, the IHC had suspended his sentence until the final decision on his appeal.
In the second case, he was jailed for seven years when the accountability court ruled that he was unable to show where he obtained the money he used to buy the Al-Azizia steel mill in Saudi Arabia. Sharif has challenged both convictions and the appeals process in both cases is ongoing.