In his first but brief address to an election rally in years, PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has claimed that had he not been removed from office in 2017 by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, no one would have been unemployed, and there would have been prosperity in the country.

Addressing a huge gathering in Hafizabad on Thursday, Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N wants to once again enable Pakistan to stand on its own feet. Party leader and PML-N nominee from a Hafizabad constituency, Saira Afzal Tarar, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Maryam Nawaz, Azam Nazeer Tarar and others also attended Nawaz's inaugural rally of the 2024 election campaign.

PMLN rally Hafizabad

Nawaz Sharif said coming to Hafizabad had evoked memories of his previous visits and that it was difficult for him to control his emotions.

He further said that when he was removed from office in 2017, it was not just him, but the representative of 250 million people who removed from prime ministership. He went on to say that had he not been removed, roti would not have been expensive, there would be no inflation in the country, and the dollar would be available at a lower rate.

The three-time former premier said if he had not been involved in fake cases, Pakistan would have achieved a different position in the comity of nations, adding that the Pakistani passport would be respected, and the country would have become the Asian Tiger.

He then asked the gathering who ended terrorism from the country, controlled hours-long loadshedding, and built motorways to reduce travel time. "That journey was not half-hearted."

Nawaz told the rally that if he was voted back to power, a motorway will be built through Hafizabad and the district will get the status it deserves.

"It is the duty of our party to give Hafizabad the position it deserves," he stressed.

Promise fulfilled

Addressing the gathering after her father, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said she had come to Hafizabad for the first time and would never be able to forget this scene.

She said she had fulfilled her promise of bringing Nawaz Sharif back from abroad. "We are the May 28 people, not the May 9 ones," she insisted, referring to the nuclear blasts Pakistan conducted in 1998 and the violent incidents perpetrated by PTI leaders and supporters last year.

Further elaborating, Maryam said the ones responsible for May 28 made the country a nuclear power, while those behind May 9 attacked the state of Pakistan as well as brought about inflation in the country.

She recounted the achievements of the PML-N's previous stint, including zero loadshedding, and elimination of inflation and unemployment. "Nawaz Sharif thinks about ending inflation, developing the country, laying network of roads, giving laptops, build schools, colleges and universities. We will try to give free electricity to those consuming less than 200 units."