LAHORE, Jan 3: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has lashed out at Dr Tahirul Qadri of Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran and said the Canadian national had come only to sabotage the electoral process.

While the Punjab Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution against Dr Qadri, PPP legislators urged the provincial government to arrest him for “trying to destabilise the democratic system”.

“The Canadian citizen has come only to obstruct the electoral process. His agenda is nothing but to sabotage the elections and the nation should not be held hostage by a person holding dual nationality,” he told reporters after meeting Baloch leader Talal Akbar Bugti.

He said: “What is the objective of this long march being organised at a time when the polls are only 10 weeks away? It is aimed at depriving the PML-N (of its likely mandate).”

He said Dr Qadri was a self-proclaimed ‘Shaikhul Islam’ and ridiculed his religious standing. Mr Sharif said Dr Qadri had achieved prominence after joining as Khateeb of the Ittefaq Mosque of the Sharifs in Model Town in 1980s.

He asked how donations sought in the name of Islam could be used for the long march.

“The poor followers are being asked to sell their gold ornaments, motorcycles and other assets to donate the proceeds for the march. It’s sheer cruelty. We don’t need lectures from such people. Don’t mislead the masses. Don’t lecture us.”

Referring to Dr Qadri’s claim of turning Islamabad into Tahrir Square, the PML-N chief reminded him that the people who had graced the Tahrir Square had a clean past and had liberated their nation from the clutches of a dictator.

On the contrary, the Shaikhul Islam had been the right hand man of former army ruler, a clear reference to Dr Qadri’s role in the controversial referendum of Musharraf.

Terming Dr Qadri a foreign agent or a pawn of the establishment, Mr Sharif said he had suspicions about the intention of staging a political show at a time when the nation was looking forward to a transition from one democratic set-up to another.

Viewing not to allow this drama to be staged, the former prime minister wondered how government allies could join the movement against their own coalition.

“The deputy prime minister and other ministers are pledging to join the march,” Mr Sharif said, referring to Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s meeting with Dr Qadri in which the PML-Q leader assured the former of hi support.

The PML-N chief recalled that the Q-League had been declaring to get Musharraf 10 times as president in uniform and the PTI as well as the man speaking from London (MQM leader Altaf Hussain) had also been allies of the army ruler.

Asked if the PML-N’s Punjab government would take measures to stop the march, he said “there are certain laws against elements trying to create chaos”.