Sharif terms ouster a conspiracy, says will become PM again

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday exuded confidence that he will be elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan for the fourth time.

Addressing a big gathering at Gujranwala city on his rally to Lahore, 67-year-old Sharif asked his supporters to pledge to come out on the roads with him to ensure the elected prime ministers of Pakistan are not humiliated anymore.

A five-member Supreme Court bench last month disqualified Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the prime minister to quit for the record third time.

"Conspiracies to oust me had begun some three and a half years ago and finally they (a reference to military establishment and judiciary) ousted me in humiliated manner. I am not a traitor. I am a patriotic Pakistani," Sharif said.

Sharif, who left Islamabad on Wednesday in a rally to reach his hometown Lahore to protest against his disqualification, said nowhere in the world is a prime minister ousted the way he is in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is an unfortunate country where 18 prime ministers had not been allowed to complete their tenure since partition while three dictators stayed in power for more than 30 years," he said.

Sharif vowed that he would not sit back home.
"I will be on roads to make sure the birth of a new Pakistan where prime minister is not humiliated this way. This tradition of sending premier home should be stopped now. And I will make sure this with the help of masses," he said.

"I have brought my case to the court of people as I accept their decision. To rule the country is the right of 200m people of the country and not of those individuals who have power," he said.

Sharif also said he was stopped as "they" (his rivals) feared that he would come to power again after 2018 elections.

Sharif stepped down after being disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 and after staying in Murree and Islamabad, embarked on road journey to his home in Lahore in the company of thousands of his supporters.
He was in the third day of his journey from Islamabad to Lahore via the Grand Trunk (GT) Road to display his political might.

According to the schedule of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Sharif is expected to spend the night in Gujranwala. He would leave for Lahore in the morning and is expected to reach there at 4 PM on Saturday.

PTI