‘Army chief, ISI behind my ouster,’ says Pakistan’s former PM Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan’s former prime minister and Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Friday accused the country’s powerful military and its intelligence service of toppling his government. He also accused them of rigging the 2018 election and installing an “incapable Imran Khan” to power, PTI reported.

“(Army chief) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ended my government. He rigged 2018 elections and imposed incapable Imran Khan on the nation,” Sharif said while addressing the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — an alliance Opposition parties, launched last month. 

Sharif addressed the event virtually from London. Charging against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the former PM said, “You (Hammed) will have to answer this too.”

“I ask the people present in the rally, don’t be afraid to mention the name who imposed this incapable Imran on us,” the 70-year old leader said.

Referring to the army, Sharif said, “You can label me a traitor if you want, seize my properties, file false cases against me but I will continue to speak for my people.”

 “They call us traitors…this is not new…PML-N’s mandate was stolen and a nalayak (incapable) and puppet Imran Khan was brought into power,” he said.

This is not the first time that Sahrif has gone after the military leadership. During the opposition’s multiparty conference last month, he had bitterly criticised the army, saying there was “a state above the state in the country”. However, he had refrained from naming anyone.

Sharif also questioned why the violators of Constitution don’t get any punishment, while an elected prime minister is not allowed to complete his tenure. Sharif became the prime minister in the politically unstable Pakistan for a record three times, but every time he was forced to quit in the middle of his term.

Since his anti-army rant, the PTI government has banned the media to broadcast his speeches.

Friday’s event was the first power show of the PDM since its formation last month with an objective to oust the “selected” PTI government. The PDM’s struggle against the Imran Khan government is widely perceived as being anti-army.

The opposition managed to pull a huge crowd at the cricket stadium that was full to its capacity.

PDM president Maualana Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz also addressed the event.

The next rally of the PDM is on Sunday in Karachi.