The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday, saying that it had prepared a response to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's repeated questioning of why he was disqualified by the Supreme Court in the Panamagate verdict, started distributing pamphlets listing reasons for his ouster.
The pamphlets, titled "We will tell you why you were disqualified", were distributed by a private helicopter at Liaquat Bagh and nearby areas ahead of the gathering at Rawalpindi today.
In nearly all of Sharif's speeches that he delivered on his way to Lahore from Islamabad, he demanded to know the reason for his disqualification. "Someone tell me, why was I deposed?" he had asked, repeating the question frequently during his four-day GT Road rally last week.
The pamphlets list 10 reasons as to why the PTI believes Sharif was ousted from the public office.
PTI's pamphlet listing down reasons for Nawaz Sharif's disqualification.
'Mian Sahab, this is why you were deseated':
You took advantage of your position [as PM] and looted taxpayers' money.
You built offshore companies in your children's name for money laundering.
You hid your wealth and assets from ECP, SECP, FBR and the public by lying on your documents.
You engaged in money laundering with help from Ishaq Dar and other dishonest government officials.
You cheated tax collecting authorities for 30 years.
You lied to the Parliament and public in your address about Panama leaks and tried to mislead court.
You and your children tried to mislead the joint investigation team and submitted fake documents.
You are not honest or truthful.
You had 15 months to come clean in front of the court and the public, but all you did was lie.
You were disqualified by five judges, not random people.
PTI local leaders had submitted an application to the district administration seeking permission to drop pamphlets in the city from a helicopter.
“The deputy commissioner was contacted for permission to drop pamphlets through aircraft/helicopter to advertise for the public meeting on Sunday morning,” PTI MPA Arif Abbasi had told Dawn.
Earlier on Sunday, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry claimed that Sharif had attempted to mislead the public by distributing copies of his iqamah during his 'homecoming' rally.
He said that the PTI would, through the pamphlets, explain to the public the reasons behind the PML-N leader's disqualification.
The same reasons are also expected to be announced at the gathering at Liaquat Bagh today, which is being held by the PTI and the Awami Muslim League.
"We knew Nawaz Sharif would not be able to understand the [Supreme Court ruling] in English," he claimed. "We gave him time to get help from someone who could explain the verdict to him, but in the end we have no choice but to tell him the reasons behind his disqualification ourselves."
Nawaz riles up Lahore
On the fourth and last day of his 'homecoming' rally, which had set off from Islamabad on August 9, the former prime minister's caravan arrived in Lahore. "Have you accepted Nawaz Sharif's disqualification?" he asked supporters on Saturday night while making a brief stop at Shahdara.
"Everybody said they did not accept the [Supreme Court's] decision," he told the gathered crowd.
Later, during his address to the mammoth crowd at Data Darbar, he repeated his question. "You made me a prime minister, and five people — five people — disqualified me. Tell me, is their verdict acceptable to you?" he asked, to loud shouts of dissent.
“Those who disqualified me; are they qualified?” he asked and demanded accountability of all those who had sent packing the prime ministers in the past 70 years.
In order to do away with the existing system “plagued by virus”, Sharif vowed to give the country a new constitution.
“As long as the basic structure of this system does not change, Pakistan will continue to suffer. We will make sure that efforts to change the constitution begin right away.”
'Why was an ordinary citizen allowed to use state machinery'
PTI leader Andleeb Abbasi in a letter to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi criticised the government for allegedly using tax money to fund the ousted PM's 'homecoming' rally.
Andleeb observed that since he has been disqualified, Sharif is an ordinary citizen and is not entitled to use state machinery for personal gain. Yet, he stayed in the Punjab House on government expenditure, and was accompanied by police and Elite Forces on his way to Lahore.
The PTI leader claimed that the protocol provided to Sharif was against the orders of the Supreme Court, which had disqualified him for "being dishonest".
She demanded to know why Sharif's motorcade allegedly included 2,000 government officials and 700 motorbikes that were being paid for by taxpayers when he was no more than an ordinary citizen.
Andleeb reminded PM Abbasi that Sharif is also facing several corruption cases in the National Accountability Bureau.
She claimed that the Constitution gave her the right to question the government for alleged misuse of state funds, and demanded an answer from PM Abbasi within 21 days.
One wonders what the rationale was for the foreign minister — a highly demanding, full-time job — being assigned various other political responsibilities.
The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
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