LAHORE: PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif has once again reiterated that her father is coming home to join his people and not to settle accounts with political rivals.

She was addressing a public meeting at Thokar Niaz Beg on Thursday to mobilise supporters to welcome the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif upon his return after a self-imposed four-year exile on Oct 21.

“In his past tenures, Nawaz Sharif had strengthened the national economy, and the nation progressed,” said Ms Sharif. “This time, he is coming to [show how to] rebuild the economy.”

While stating her father won’t take revenge on anyone, Ms Sharif said he would rather bring people together and “mend hearts”.

Says her father spent more time in exile than in power

She said that the country and its people suffered after the ouster of the PML-N supremo “through a conspiracy” back in 2017.

Since then, inflation had skyrocketed and the economy continued to deteriorate, she claimed.

She recalled that the prices of essential items were low during her father’s government and spoke about the other achievements on development and law and order fronts.

Referring to the PTI’s rule from 2018-2022, she said there had been “a government of jokers” for four years when rulers prioritised political rivalries instead of serving the people.

She said Nawaz Sharif “is the son of soil” and has neither been imported from abroad nor been launched by someone through “foreign funding”, a reference to the prohibited funding case against the PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“Nawaz Sharif has spent more time in exile than in power,” the PML-N chief organiser said, adding that there had been repeated attempts to eliminate the tiger (PML-N’s election symbol), but these characters themselves became a part of history, while the tiger remained standing unscathed.

She said that seven years of disappointment among the masses had begun changing into a ray of hope since Mr Nawaz announced his return to the country.

“This hope of the masses is rooted in the fact that he had always initiated an era of development in the country, and this time again, he would come up to the expectations of the people.”

Earlier on Friday, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the PML-N supreme leader would return to Pakistan as planned on Oct 21, as doctors and lawyers had given him the thumbs up. He said his elder brother would address a rally at Minar-i-Pakistan after his arrival and “give an economic roadmap to steer the country out of crises”.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2023