Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif congratulated on Wednesday all winners of the by-elections, saying that hatred, lies, abusive language, hypocrisy, misconduct, indecency, unrest and discord suffered a severe defeat.

According to details, the three-time former prime minister said the country’s growth rate rose in 2017 and inflation stood at 3 per cent. He said the previous rulers took inflation to 39 per cent, which then came down to 4 per cent. He said every Pakistani suffered the consequences of the conditions they created.

Nawaz Sharif said Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in 1999, when the Saudi riyal traded at Rs11. He said great destruction took place in the country after their government left. He said the country was ruined and bankrupt through misconduct, indecency, unrest and discord.

He said that if the pace of development continued, the country could have reached great heights and there would have been no concern about the IMF or foreign exchange reserves. He said the IMF and reserves concerns trapped the country, and several decisions could not be taken independently because they were in others’ hands. He said they handed over national decisions to outsiders.

He said all responsibility for events from 2018 to 2022 rested on them. He said people cast votes for them on the basis of performance. Nawaz Sharif praised Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz and said the president of the PML-N commended them. He urged everyone to support Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz. He said a record of public service was set in one and a half years and the economy came out of the ditch. He said Pakistan was saved from default and bankruptcy.

The PML-N president added that Pakistan faced economic, moral, social and financial bankruptcy, and humanity also declined. He said respect for elders and affection for youngsters disappeared. He said those who came to play cricket kept playing the same game for five years. He said the country, the nation and foreign affairs collapsed. He said they removed the IMF burden but the others brought it back.

He said merit did not appear anywhere in their period and efforts were under way to restore everything again. He said PTI founder Imran Khan was not alone and that those who brought him were even greater culprits. He said full justice must also be ensured for those who brought the PTI founder. He said their narrative labelled others as thieves and robbers while they themselves remained ahead in theft and robbery. He said all their stories came forward.

Nawaz Sharif asked whether nations progressed through discord, allegations and the ‘beat and kill’ narrative. He said 120,000 new houses were under construction for the poor in Punjab. He said free medicines were available and free treatment took place.

He said new hospitals opened and students received scholarships and laptops. He said Clean Punjab showed results and green buses reached every city. He said law and order in Punjab improved, ration cards reached the people and there was no religious discrimination in the province. He said work also took place for other faith communities. He said the government performed well during the floods.

The PML-N president maintained they announced a boycott of the elections but asked how it could be a boycott when Omar Ayub’s wife herself contested. Nawaz Sharif asked whether that qualified as a boycott. The PML-N supremo said their candidates stood with pictures of their leader. He again congratulated all winners of the by-elections and said the PML-N candidate in Haripur won with a lead of 44,000 votes.

He said a new chief secretary came every day and a new IGP arrived on the third day. He said there was no consistency in their tenure and no proper work took place. He said no development projects took place in their term and said developmental work always took place in the PML-N periods.