“It seems Sharif has decided to not talk about civil supremacy. In his address, he did not discuss the non-political actors, which I think was part of a strategy,” he told Shaukat Piracha on Rubaroo which was aired on Aaj News on Sunday.

“We saw when he [Sharif] said that the country cannot progress without holding accountable those who ousted him and named those [army] generals and Shehbaz Sharif flew to London on the very next flight and explained things to him. I think Sharif understood things,” Iqbal added.

According to Iqbal, the PML-N through its Minar-e-Pakistan rally, achieved its goal of showing that it can rival the popularity of the PTI and that the party still has a vote bank.

“A perception was there based on surveys that PTI had a huge sympathy vote while the 16-month government of PDM had also raised questions on the performance of the PML-N. They [PML-N] had to show a huge crowd, in which I think they were successful,” he said.

Responding to a question regarding the absence of former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the Minar-e-Pakistan rally, he said that his meeting with Nawaz Sharif did not seem to bear fruit.

“I do not see him [Abbasi] as part of the kitchen cabinet even if he gets a PML-N ticket,” he added.

Read: State buried law, justice for Nawaz Sharif’s return: PTI

Discussing the ordeals faced by politicians at the hands of their rivals, Iqbal said even though Sharif had said that revenge was not on his mind and that he would work together with everyone, his actions would show how true he is to his words.

“The things being done to the PTI at the moment, if that continued after the transition of power, then the statement of working together will not be true,” he added.

He was of the view that Sharif’s attempt to build good relations with India, will not be met with a positive response from the other side as he said: “There is arrogance on Indian side. They think of themselves as a big force in the region.”

For him, the blame was also on Pakistan who on several occasions spoiled attempts at normalisation of bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries.