HAFIZABAD  -   Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif Thursday formally joined his party’s election campaign ahead of the February 8 nationwide polls.

A day after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto- Zardari’s ‘lion is hiding’ tirade, Nawaz responded to his political rivals and addressed his maiden public speech in Hafizabad on Thursday in connection with the upcoming elections.

In his opening remarks, the three-time former prime minister said that his mission is putting “Pakistan back on its feet”. He added that the country would be amongst prospering states if he was not ousted from power again and again. He showered praises on the people of Hafizabad for warmly welcoming him.

“I had been ousted from power for not receiving salaries from my son,” the PML-N supreme leader said, adding, “Not a single youth would have left unemployed if our government had been allowed to complete its tenure, farmers would have seen prosperity at that time, power tariff would have not been hiked, and the country would have gotten rid of inflation.”

The former premier further said that Pakistan would have gained a prominent status globally if “I was not ousted from my [PM] office again and again.”

Nawaz, who returned to the country after ending his nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London, also announced that his only “mission” is putting Pakistan “back on its feet now”. Addressing the rally, he vowed that they would develop Hafizabad like Lahore besides linking the district with the motorway network if elected to power.

“If I was not removed, there would not have been a single problem that is plaguing the country today. The dollar would have been at Rs100, roti would cost Rs4 and Pakistan would have earned a reputable position in the world,” the PML-N supremo said. He highlighted how the PML-N had eradicated terrorism and loadshedding in its tenure. “My mission is to make Pakistan stand on its feet and God willing we will fulfil this mission,” Nawaz promised, concluding his brief speech. Meanwhile, PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz said “the sher [tiger] will roar on Feb 8”. “In London, Nawaz had said that we are people of May 28 and not those of May 9 […] the people of May 28 are the ones who made the country and the people of May 9 are those who destroyed the country,” she claimed, referring to the violent protests that erupted across Pakistan following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest. “A man who is lying behind bars can never sympathise with the youth,” she said in a reference to Imran but did not take his name. Maryam further stated that Nawaz led Pakistan to the path of progress, adding that even now the PML-N supremo was spending his time chalking measures to bring relief to the people.