Nawaz Sharif claims ex-Chief Justice Saqib Nisar conspired to oust him as Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2017

Lahore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said he had an audio recording of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar allegedly telling him to oust him and bring in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

The 74-year-old three-time former prime minister and supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also expressed his disappointment over the attitude of the Pakistani people towards him and his party.

He addressed a party meeting in Lahore on Saturday where it was decided that he would be re-elected as party chairman on May 28.

Nawaz was removed from office as party chairman after he was disqualified as prime minister in 2017 in the Panama Papers-related corruption cases. His younger brother Shehbaz Sharif subsequently took over the helm of the party before resigning last week.

Nawaz denounced his disqualification, saying that nowhere in the world do judges send home a prime minister on false charges.

“I want to ask why I have been expelled from the Prime Minister’s office,” he said and revealed that he was carrying an audio evidence of former CJP Nisar in which he was heard saying, “We have to remove Nawaz Sharif to bring in Imran Khan . as Prime Minister.”

“A case should be initiated against retired judge Mazahir Ali Naqvi for amassing huge wealth and also against other judges involved in this conspiracy,” he said. The PML-N supremo also demanded an independent probe to get to the bottom of this conspiracy against him and his government.

Not happy with the fact that the people of Pakistan did not vote for his party in the February 8 general elections, Nawaz said, “I ask the people… think while you vote. I need an answer from the nation. ”

Similarly, he said he was dissatisfied with the nation as it remained silent when he was illegally removed from the office of Prime Minister.

Nawaz’s hopes of becoming prime minister for the fourth time after returning to Pakistan last October after a four-year self-imposed exile in London were dashed when Imran Khan’s party, despite fighting elections without the electoral symbol of a ‘cricket bat’, emerged victorious.

However, Nawaz’s PML-N formed a six-party coalition government and Shehbaz Sharif, who calls himself a darling of the military establishment, became prime minister.