Imran Khan! You toppled our government through the London Plan. Wasn’t this the “umpire’s finger”? Answer the nation first, then talk to us. You are also responsible for what happened in the 2018 elections. Addressing the General Council of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), the party president and former Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, said today is May 28, and we are those of May 28, not of May 9. Imran Khan! You toppled our government with the help of those people. Wasn’t this the “umpire’s finger”? Answer the nation first, then talk to us.
During his address to the General Council of Pakistan Muslim League (N), President Nawaz Sharif addressed the chanting workers, saying that Ahsan Iqbal is asking them to remain silent. Saqib Nisar had removed me from the party presidency for life, but now these workers have brought me back, so why should they be quiet? Let them celebrate, not because Nawaz Sharif has become president again, but because Saqib Nisar’s decision has been thrown into the trash. Call those who decided to remove Nawaz Sharif permanently. Today, Nawaz Sharif stands before you again. Why was the decision made? Because Nawaz Sharif, you did not take a salary from your son. This was a ludicrous decision.
I didn’t take a salary from my son, right? Did I ask your son for a wage? The General Council is the soul of the Muslim League (N). I have met you for years, and I am very proud of you. You didn’t care about any adversity, whether it was a storm or cold weather. I congratulate the workers from the bottom of my heart.
Along with you, I also congratulate Shehbaz Sharif, my younger brother. Despite ups and downs, Shehbaz Sharif stood firm and passed the test.
Shehbaz Sharif took over the party. Many tried to create rifts between us, but Shehbaz Sharif neither wavered nor sold out nor bowed down. He stood by his brother and held the party flag high. Shehbaz Sharif received advice to leave Nawaz Sharif and become Prime Minister, but he said he would kick it away.
He never betrayed his brother. He went to jail for loyalty but never sighed. Politics is one thing, but this relationship will remain. I also congratulate Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who kept the party active during tough times, went to jail and passed every test. There was a time when she came to meet me in jail and was taken away in handcuffs. Hamza Shehbaz also bravely endured jail time.
All this was for their party and their country. Here, we’ve Rana Sanaullah, Bashir Memon, Ahsan Iqbal, Ishaq Dar, and Amir Maqam, all sitting right here. Rana Sanaullah, Hanif Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi all faced hardships. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been in jail with me since 1999, in no way sighing, bravely enduring prison time. Khawaja Salman, Talal Chaudhry, Nihal Hashmi, Javed Latif, and my nephew Yusuf Abbas are all valuable assets to the party. Today, I have been given the responsibility of the presidency again, and I was thinking about the time from 1985 when I became the Chief Minister of Punjab until 2017.
All the stages I went through and the achievements we accomplished. I thank God that whenever the PML-N government came, whether in the province or the center, by the grace of God, we turned the country around, and the destiny of Pakistan began to change. Remember the period from 1990 onward, Pakistan had a unique status not only in the region but also on the continent. Pakistan would have been a major power in Asia. But the process of pulling legs has continued since 1947 and continues to this day, weakening Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif said that we must admit that we have harmed ourselves with our actions. When we took over the central government in 1990, if there had been no interference or those pulling us down, there would have been no poverty or unemployment. Pakistan would have been prosperous. During my tenure, the dollar became 104 rupees, and it might have even decreased to around 50 rupees today. Let’s no longer cross lower back to 1990; Let’s no longer decrease returned to 1990; permit’s speak approximately 2017. Our country has a completely weak memory and would not recognize what was built by way of one individual and what was destroyed by another.
When I left, flour was 35 rupees per kilo, sugar was 50 rupees, bread was 4 rupees, petrol was 65 rupees per liter, the dollar was 104 rupees, gold was 50,000 rupees per tola, and vegetables were 10 rupees per kilo. Unemployment was being eradicated. We never held a begging bowl, asking for money or grants. I accomplished everything with our strength and resources.
We ended terrorism and restored peace in Karachi. I built motorways. Did any motorways were built between 1947 and 2024? If anyone built a highway, show me. We ended power load-shedding in 2016, and the stock market was booming. The CPEC was in full swing, and foreign exchange reserves were reaching new heights. Are these small achievements? A few people snatched away Pakistan’s prosperity, depriving millions of it.
I asked them if it was justified that because I didn’t take a salary from my son, I should go home and take a break as Prime Minister. Can you name any other country where such decisions are made? If I had looted 460 billion rupees, like Imran Khan’s Al-Qadir Trust scam, then it would have made sense to dismiss me, and I wouldn’t have had any supporters in Pakistan. These people have destroyed Pakistan and the public’s mandate. Do you feel any shame? They involved us in false cases. Maryam Nawaz and I faced 150 court hearings each and received false punishments. When we returned, the judiciary threw out these cases.
Today, Imran Khan faces genuine cases. Which one of them is false? Imran Khan started his politics riding on their shoulders. Listen to the tapes. I went to Bani Gala and told Imran Khan to come and serve the country. I didn’t need to go; we had the mandate. We suggested we work together in Parliament. In the end, Imran Khan asked me to build a road to Bani Gala, which I had done within a week or ten days. Then, he went to London and made the London Plan for protests.
A journalist, Mubasher Lucman, says he was present at the meeting and even paid the hotel bill. In that meeting, a general, “Mullah Canada,” Imran Khan, and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi planned to overthrow Nawaz Sharif’s government. During the protests, a person was sent to me, asking Nawaz Sharif to resign and go home. These are the experiences of a Prime Minister. I said do whatever you want; Nawaz Sharif has never resigned.
In the second meeting, there was a person who said, Nawaz Sharif says he will not resign, do whatever you want. After that, the person went to London. General Zaheer-ul-Islam speaks for himself that we tried different parties and allowed the third force. We thought that a third force might deliver, and we saw that system within PTI. Imran Khan! Leave all other matters aside. Before accusing and pointing fingers at us, tell us if you were not that third force. If you were not that third force, I am ready to retire from politics and go home. When I make a statement, I stand by it. I have that much credibility.
I don’t swear, but I promise that if you were not that third force, I would leave politics. But it was you. Those people laid the foundation for you and your politics. With their help, you toppled our government and derailed democracy. You encouraged the sit-in in front of the Prime Minister’s House, threatening to drag Nawaz Sharif out with a rope around his neck.
On whose orders were you making such big threats? Wasn’t this the “umpire’s finger” that Imran Khan repeatedly mentioned? Imran Khan answers the nation about these things. You have no real case. If you answer these questions, then talk to us. Your cases have no merit; you are their creation. You are also responsible for what happened in the 2018 elections. Today is May 28; we are those of May 28, not of May 9.
Today is Youm-e-Takbeer. On this day, President Clinton offered 5 billion dollars. I said, Mr. Clinton, do not try to buy our conscience. We are not a nation that can be purchased; we do not trade our dignity. We were told sanctions would be imposed. Ishaq Dar, please bring out that record and present it to the public. We rejected 5 billion dollars and conducted nuclear tests. It was announced in Parliament that Pakistan responded with five nuclear tests.
Then Vajpayee came to Pakistan and agreed, but we still need to fulfill that agreement. Thanks to Allah, inflation is decreasing, the costs of greens and bread are reducing, and the stock change is attaining new heights. Congratulations to Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, and all the colleagues. Allah is holding your hand. The next one and a half to two years are difficult, but the following three years will be better. Pakistan will return to prosperity.
