Army chief accused of ousting Sharif
GUJRANWALA/LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday accused the country’s army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa of toppling his government, pressuring the judiciary, and installing the current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the 2018 elections.
Mr Sharif was speaking via video link from London to a gathering of tens of thousands of people organised by opposition parties to kick-off a countrywide protest campaign in the eastern city of Gujranwala aiming to oust Mr Khan’s government.
“Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, you packed up our government, which was working well, and put the nation and the country at the alter of your wishes,” Mr Sharif told the gathering — the largest since the 2018 elections.
The former PM also accused the chief of Pakistan’s spy agency of being involved in conspiring against his government.
Ni n e maj o r opposition parties formed a joint platform called the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) last month to begin a nationwide agitation against the government.
Mr Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the main opposition party, was sacked by the Supreme Court in 2017 on corruption charges and left for London last November for medical treatment.
He blames generals and judges for what he says were trumped up charges.
Pakistan’s powerful military denies meddling i n politics. The military’s public relations wing did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Mr Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who heads her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), also addressed the gathering.
Both criticised Mr Khan’s government for what they called bad governance and mismanagement of the country’s economy.