SHARIF HITS OUT AT PAK POLL BODY
LONDON: Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif has criticised the Election Commission’s decision to deploy soldiers inside polling stations for Pakistan’s July 25 general elections, saying his PML-N party will oppose efforts to “engineer” the outcome of the polls.
Speaking to journalists in London where his wife Kulsoom Nawaz is being treated for cancer, Sharif said on Wednesday that he and his daughter Maryam Nawaz will return to Pakistan on July 13 despite facing the prospect of being arrested on arrival.
The duo was sentenced to prison by an anti-graft court last week for corrupt practices in the acquisition of four apartments in London. Sharif has denied any wrong-doing and said his PML-N party is being targeted by the security establishment.
Sharif, 68, reiterated his allegations that the Pakistan Army and ISI were involved in engineering the outcome of the polls and said only the Election Commission has the mandate to conduct polls. He said whatever was happening in Pakistan was detrimental to the election process.