London, July 4 (TNS): Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday requested for a delay in the announcement of the verdict in the Avenfield reference that is to be announced on Friday.
Speaking to media-persons in London, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif said he wanted to be present in the courtroom when the verdict is delivered.
Pakistan has had a history of verdicts remaining “unnecessarily” reserved for months, therefore delaying the judgement in the said case would not violate any laws, he justified.
The former PM, however, rejected the impression of going into a self-exile, saying, he’s not a dictator that he will run away. He further said he won’t disappoint his followers as he is answerable to them, adding he wouldn’t have appeared in the courts for over 100 times if he had planned on running away.
“Though I am facing one-sided investigations [since disqualification from the PMship in the Panama Papers case in July 2017] I won’t be silenced as the nation is standing with me,” he went on to say. He warned anti-democratic forces, saying the masses will make an example out of these people.
Nawaz —who is in London with his daughter Maryam Nawaz owing his wife Kulsoom’s ailing health— said he will return to the country as soon as the condition of his wife improves.
