LAHORE - Former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday claimed that the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman had finalised the relief package with him during the tenure of PML-N.
Nawaz Sharif who leads country’s largest Opposition party also said that Islamabad had started talks with Riyadh for Saudi investment in Pakistan during his tenure.
“International agreements takes time (to materialise),” the ousted PM was quoted by PML-N sources as stating on Thursday.
This statement of the former PM comes just days before the scheduled visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that eight MoUs involving Saudi Arabian investment worth billions of dollars are expected to be signed between both the countries during the visit of the Saudi Prince on this weekend.
During his brief chat with the party leaders at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, Nawaz Sharif complained that the PTI government was re-launching the schemes initiated by his government
He said that the PTI government was trying to claim the credit for launching health card, a scheme launched by his government to provide free of cost medical treatment to the poor.
Nawaz Sharif also criticised the National Accountability Bureau stating that the anti-graft authority had to face embarrassment after they implicated his brother Shehbaz Sharif in different corruption cases.
In Punjab province, the NAB launched investigations into development schemes but in the KP they did nothing, he said. “Had the PML-N been in government now, the people would have been travelling in the Orange Line train. When we left (the government), Lahore-Multan motorway was almost complete but they have failed to complete (this project).”
The former PM went on to state that even the present government is unable to build an interchange in Lahore for the Lahore-Multan motorway.
“They must claim credit for the schemes that we had launched but they should open these projects for the people at least,” he said.
The former PM further said that they had built a network of highways and roads across the Balochistan province and his brother Shehbaz Sharif launched several power projects in Punjab. “But they failed to compete even a single project in KPK,” he said while referring to the PTI government.
Nawaz Sharif said that he prays for the promotion of Pakistan Super League since it was also launched during his tenure.
When a reporter asked Nawaz Sharif whether he wanted to move to hospital or home, the ousted PM replied, “Who wants to go to hospital. After experiencing pleasant weather on Thursday morning, I thought I should have been in Malam Jabba (hill station) instead of the jail.”
When one of the visitors asked Nawaz Sharif about his present condition in the prison, he recited a verse Urdu poetry. “Subhu hoti ha, sham hoti ha ,,, Youn hi zindagi tamam hoti ha.”
To another question, he said that the government constituted four Medical Boards for his medical checkup and all the boards pointed out regular pain in his heart.
He also said that former dictator Pervez Musharraf had introduced NAB laws only for him. “Initially, we had no idea that NAB laws are such dangerous,” he said.
While taking to another visitor Nawaz Sharif said he would be out of jail by next Friday and he would go to his Jati Umrah residence from the prison if released.
He also complained that he was provided by the jail administration a TV set that does not broadcast news. He said that even he cannot watch proceedings of the courts on TV.
Dozens of PML-N workers reached outside the Kot Lakhpat Jail on early Thursday despite heavy rain. Almost all senior leaders were allowed entry for the weekly meeting with Nawaz Sharif inside the jail. However, ordinary workers stayed outside the prison despite rain. They left back after spending a few hours there despite rain on a chilly winter day.
TV crews, under umbrellas, were also in waiting outside the main gate as PML-N leaders reached the high security prison back-to-back on latest model SUVs.
The PML-N workers chanted full-throat slogans in favour of Nawaz Sharif as Maryam Nawaz reached outside the prison for the weekly meeting. She also served homemade food to her father and left back after spending a few hours with him.
Several party leaders including Talal Chaudhry, Pervaiz Rashid, and Mushahidullah also met the former PM at the prison on Thursday.
Senator Sajid Mir and Senator Hafiz Abdul Karim also met Nawaz Sharif and prayed for his early release.
A PML-N source said that Nawaz Sharif was suffering from high fever on Thursday. The jail staff provided medicines to the former PM, he said, but Maryam Nawaz expressed serious concerns about the health condition of her father.
Sharif is enjoying better-class in the jail with facilities like bed, chair, heater, newspapers, and TV.
Thursday is fixed for Nawaz’s visitors by jail authorities. Sharif is serving a seven-year term in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail on corruption charges.