ISLAMABAD - Minister of state for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Ms Marriyum Aurangzeb talking to the media outside the residence of late Asma Jahangir where she had gone to offer condolences to her family said that the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif redeemed all the pledges that he made with the people in 2013 and put the country on the road to sustained economic development, adding that now he would restore the sanctity of vote. She said that he tackled the burgeoning terrorism, returned peace to Karachi, brought in foreign investment through CPEC and extended health and education facilities to the masses.

MOS that the pledge by Nawaz Sharif to restore justice and sanctity of the vote would also be fulfilled in the 2018. She said that the people of Pakistan would also give their verdict against those who talk about rejecting the laws passed by the parliament.

Marriyum reiterated that the tradition of sending home the elected Prime Ministers before completion of their mandated term should come to an end adding that seventeen Prime Minister met that fate. The minister said that it retarded the process of development in the country.

She said it was unfair to give epithets of "godfather" Sicilian mafia, thief and dacoit to the Prime Minister against whom corruption of not a single penny had been established in spite of the filing of  supplementary references, as it constituted negation of the voice of the people.

She said that those who were desirous of breaking the PML-N would be disappointed to see Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif sitting together flanked by Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz at Lodhran on Saturday which was a strong message for them to " watch and be mortified". She said that the people of Lodhran by voting for the PML-N candidate had announced the verdict about eligibility of Nawaz Sharif. Marriyum said that people of Sheikhupura would also extend tumultuous welcome to Nawaz Sharif tomorrow.

The minister said that those who relied on the finger of the umpire were fated to reap disappointment. She said that all segments of the society must think about development of the country and strengthening of democratic process. She said that every institution of the state had its own legal and constitutional position and it was incumbent upon them to extend due respect to each other.               Responding to a question about allegations leveled by Gula Lai she said that those were false, baseless and ridiculous and she should have revealed the name of the PML (N) leader who offered her the senate ticket. The minister said that PML-N had plenty of its own workers and it did not need characters like Gula Lai.

Later talking to the media on her arrival at Sheikhupura the minister observed that following the verdict given by the people of Lahore, Chakwal and Lodhran similar voices of support for Nawaz Sharif were emerging from Kot Momin, Jaranwala, Peshawar and Mansehra. She said it was the support and power of the people owing to which Nawaz Sharif had taken upon himself the responsibility for restoring justice and sanctity of the vote.

Marriyum said that Nawaz Sharif was right to say that the decisions in Pakistan would be made by the thumb impressions of the people and not by the finger of the umpire. The MOS said that the thrice elected Prime Minister was sent home on the basis of "Iqama" notwithstanding the fact that after a trial for one and half years, probing of JIT and the boxes collected by it and filing of supplementary references no corroborative evidence had been found to establish any corruption. She said that all those who hurled allegations against Nawaz Sharif were given befitting answer by the people of Lodhran. She said that the people of Pakistan including the residents of Lodhran had rejected the politics of ATMs, chaos, anarchy and lies. She said that the people were adding their voice to the righteous cause being espoused by Nawaz Sharif. She said that the people had stood up against injustice.

The minister expressed the hope that the people of Sheikhupura would throng the public rally to be addressed by Nawaz Sharif in thousands and those who failed to find space in the arena would listen to his voice while sitting at home. She said that Nawaz Sharif was a fearless leader and the people would not find any other leader in the politics of the country like him adding that he was the real lion. Marriyum said that Nawaz Sharif was the one who fulfilled all the pledges made with the people including making Pakistan a nuclear power. The minister said that the lion would also give befitting reply from Sheikhupura to those who waited for umpire's finger, indulged in politics of chaos, churned out lies and tried to denigrate their opponents. She said that those who could not compete with Nawaz Sharif could only attack the parliament and embellish containers. The minister advised them to start preparing their containers in advance because the moon of PML-N's victory in 2018 elections had emerged from Lodhran.

The minister paid tributes to the anti-terrorist court judge Sajjad Ahmed for the speedy trial and decision in the murder case of Zainab and observed that if such cases were dealt with that urgency then no beast would dare to commit such a heinous crime in the future. She also eulogized the unrelenting efforts by the Punjab government in apprehending the culprit.

The minister thanked MNA Javed Latif and people of Sheikhupura for giving them warm welcome which she said was unprecedented for the leaders of PML-N and soldiers of Nawaz Sharif.