Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the Paksitan Democratic Movement sacrificed its political capital to help stabilise Pakistan after taking over government in 2022. He added that Nawaz Sharif will present his economic recovery plan upon his return to Pakistan.

“It would not be appropriate to say that we were successful in everything,” Shehbaz said in a press conference in Lahore on Friday. However, he added, he was certain that the government tried its best.

He added that not only was the government confronted with the worst floods in the country’s history but also had to contend with sit-ins and long marches. He added that the political disruptions had reached their peak on May 9, which he termed as an ‘attack’ on Pakistan.

Shehbaz added that India had copied Nawaz Sharif’s economic model, presented during the party’s first government in 1990. However, he added that Pakistan’s president of the time had not been in favour of the reforms at the time.

He added that Nawaz’s second government had seen Pakistan becoming a nuclear power despite immense international pressure. He added that Indian PM Bajpai had visited Pakistan by road and a ‘moral victory’ had been achieved when he accepted Pakistan’s existence at the Minar-e-Pakistan.

Shehbaz added that the country’s stability had once again been derailed by the Kargil War. He added that Nawaz had ‘sacrificed’ his government to save Pakistan.

He added that Nawaz had surmounted obstacles to bring the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. He added that he had called General Raheel Sharif to ensure the visit of the Chinese president took place despite a sit-in. However, the sit in did not end.

He also mentioned that Nawaz had been ousted on the basis of an iqama even though his name was not inlcuded in the Panama Papers.

Shehbaz said that the PDM-led government not only fixed the country’s economy but also fixed Pakistan’s foreign relations which had been damaged by the previous government.