Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday called for accountability of those he said “brought Imran Khan” into power, terming them “bigger criminals” than the PTI founder.

He made the remarks in an address posted on social media.

Nawaz said the 2018 elections derailed Pakistan’s economic progress. He recalled that the PML-N had challenged the poll results at the time, with Shehbaz Sharif raising allegations of rigging in parliament. The party had questioned the rejection of 1.6 million votes and the recovery of ballot papers from streets and gutters.

He said Pakistan had been recording higher growth and lower inflation before 2018. Referring to currency depreciation, he noted that the Saudi riyal was worth Rs11 when Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in 1999. An audience member highlighted that the riyal now trades around Rs78.

Nawaz criticised Pakistan’s reliance on the IMF, saying the country “cannot make decisions independently” due to external conditionalities. Had the earlier pace of progress continued, he argued, Pakistan would not be facing concerns over reserves or IMF restrictions today.

He said voters backed the PML-N on the basis of its past performance. Nawaz also praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for trying to “regain the level that we had lost”.

He further accused Imran Khan of branding his opponents as “chor and daaku” (thieves and dacoits) while allegedly being “at the forefront of robbery and theft” himself.