'Only wish to see nation prosper': Nawaz Sharif vows to put Pak economy back on track

After his return to Pakistan from a four-year self-imposed exile, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday (October 21) that he had no desire to seek revenge but wished to end the country's tough economic conditions and put it back on the path of growth.

Addressing a huge rally at the iconic Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore, the 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo rued the country's dire economic conditions and vowed to make Pakistan a developed country. “I have no wish for revenge, Nawaz Sharif only wishes for the well-being of the people,” he said.

He noted that if Pakistan were run on his 1990 economic model, not a single person would have been unemployed, and there would be no such thing as poverty in the country. “But today, the conditions are so bad that one has to think if they can feed their children or pay electricity bills,” he said.

“Is this why you ousted me? We were making Pakistan Asian Tiger, we want to take Pakistan to G20,” he said.

The three-time premier said a plan was needed to end the difficulties of the people of Pakistan. “We need to begin a new journey. We need to decide on how we will get our lost position back, how we will have to run at double speed, how we will have to break the begging bowl forever, how we will have to stand on our feet... how we will have to make a strong foreign policy and create good relations with the world even on Kashmir solution,” Sharif said.

No anti-India rhetoric

Without naming India, he said, “We cannot progress by fighting neighours. We have to introduce effective foreign policy, maintaining good relations with our neighbours as without this the country cannot progress.”

Sharif said had East Pakistan (Bangladesh) not been separated, there would have been an economic corridor between East and West Pakistan today.

Observers say Sharif, who is tipped to be the next prime minister of Pakistan by the strong military establishment, has given the “policy statement on restoring relations with India”. Sharif said he never betrayed his supporters nor did he shy from any kind of sacrifice, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“I am meeting you today after several years, but my relationship of love with you is the same. There is no difference in this relationship,” he told the cheering crowd. “The love I am seeing in your eyes, I am proud of it,” he said.

Sharif said he had forgotten the past after seeing the public’s love.

'Wounds take time to heal'

He said his wounds would take time to heal, but he had no wish for revenge. His comments assume significance as his main rival and former prime minister Imran Khan is in jail and is facing more than 150 cases against him. Khan's government had launched a number of corruption cases against the Sharif family.

Sharif said fake cases were framed against him and his party leaders, yet no one abandoned the PML-N flag. “Tell me, who separated Nawaz Sharif from his nation? We are those who built Pakistan. We made Pakistan an atomic power. We brought an end to load-shedding,” he said, highlighting how he produced and provided cheap electricity to the people.

“I want to give a message to my youth that you aren’t here to spend your life in adverse things, the way (forward) is difficult but not impossible,” he said, adding that the PML-N’s aim would be to bring ease to the people.

Sharif also used religious symbolism extensively in his speech. He asked the people to recite Islamic verses every day for the resolution of their problems. He also raised the flag of Palestine and declared that the people of Palestine should be given their due right. “We will never accept that their right is given to someone else," he said.

Return at the ‘right time’

Sharif was accorded a warm welcome on his return to Pakistan by party workers and supporters. His brother and ex-prime minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif said the PML-N supremo was coming back to unite and put Pakistan back on track. “My leader Nawaz Sharif will be among you today, Insha Allah. He is coming back to unite this nation, not to divide it further. He is coming back to spread love among his people, not hatred,” Shehbaz posted on X.

“He is coming back to help you become a productive citizen, not ammunition for any party or group. He is coming back to put Pakistan back on track,” he said.

Sharif left for London in November 2019 on medical grounds after a higher court granted him bail for four weeks. By that time, he had served half of his seven-year jail term in the Al-Azizia corruption case. During the four years since then, he was declared a proclaimed offender in Al-Azizia and Avenfield corruption cases for his continuous absence from the proceedings on appeals against the sentences.

The Islamabad High Court on Thursday (October 19) granted him protective bail until October 24 in both cases after NAB did not oppose the petitions filed by him.

There has been a talk among political circles that he is returning to the country at the “right time” as his arch-rival PTI chief Imran Khan is in jail and there has been a “perfect equation” of PML-N with the establishment.

(With agency inputs)