PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has said that the election commission is the right body to decide when to hold the elections, and that his opinion is the same as that of the commission.
"It is a fair election commission and will take the best decision in this regard. We are ready for elections. Delimitation is yet to be done, which will take time and the commission has its eyes on it and will decide accordingly," Nawaz said while talking to the media at the Dubai airport before boarding his flight back to Pakistan.
He said he was happy he was returning to Pakistan after four years, adding that when he had left the country in 2019, its condition was not favourable.
"I wish the circumstances of the country were better than those in 2017, which is concerning. It is sad that the country that was supposed to be on the path to development has, instead of moving ahead, gone backward in every aspect, including economical, financial, social. People's lifestyles have worsened. But there is hope, and we shouldn’t lose hope. We can still make it better because we ourselves damaged them. If we have to stand on our two feet, we'll have to do it ourselves, nobody will pick us up," the former premier stressed.
He also said that it hurts when he remembers the Pakistan from years ago, one which had bid goodbye to the IMF, where electricity was provided daily and was being generated every day.
"The rupee was stable, people were getting jobs, electricity was cheap, roti was available for Rs4, a poor person's child was also going to school, free healthcare was available. Where is that Pakistan now?" he asked.
Nawaz Sharif asserted that Pakistan should have been among the developed countries.
Talking about the injustices he, his family and party leaders have had to endure, Nawaz said he and his daughter Maryam went through 150 hearings, and his daughter eventually got a clean chit because she did not have a position when he was the prime minister nor did she have an office, yet she was punished.
"Then other people from our family, including Shehbaz Sharif, and those outside the family also had to go through a lot, from Rana Sanaullah and Hanif Abbasi to others. Were their cases fair?" he questioned.
To a question about the May 9 incidents and the attacks on army installations, Nawaz Sharif said: "We are the May 28 ones, not May 9", in reference to the day when Pakistan conducted nuclear tests during his government in 1998.
Nawaz Sharif's flight from Dubai is scheduled to reach Islamabad at 12:30pm. Reportedly, important showbiz personalities were also at Dubai airport to greet him, while on the flight he is being accompanied by 28 journalists. His sons, Hussain and Hassan, are not flying to Pakistan with him, while PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui is travelling along with him.
