Nawaz Sharif 'declared war' against nation: Govt reacts to opposition's APC

The government on Sunday reacted strongly to the opposition's All Parties Conference, with one minister saying that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had "declared war" against the entire nation.

Pakistan's major opposition parties have come together to devise an anti-government strategy at the APC hosted by the PPP in Islamabad.

'Nawaz Sharif declared war'

Federal Minister for Marine Affairs Ali Zaidi said: "Today, Nawaz Sharif has declared war with the entire Pakistani nation!"

"He says that his feud is not with Imran Khan, it is with those who brought [him] to power. [PTI] has come to power with the votes of 17 million people ... not with the help of a 'chit'!"

'People did respect the vote and used it wisely'

Slamming Nawaz, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar said that the PML-N leader must recognise that the "people actually did respect the vote in the 2018 election and used it wisely".

"The result was that as soon as [Nawaz] was relieved of power, he had to hatch a scheme and flee the country," he said.

'Flimsy attempt'

Minutes after the APC had commenced, Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Shibli Faraz termed the meeting a "flimsy attempt to put pressure on the govt to back off on accountability".

"Nation has witnessed that the opposition has used politics for personal gains and used the parliament to protect their personal empires. Imran Khan will never comprise on his commitment to [eradicating] corruption/ Hence no NRO," he added.

'Nawaz himself was part of the system'

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said: "One more episode of the 'abbu bachao' (save our fathers) campaign has flopped. What better proof of media freedom than the fact that Nawaz's speech was shown live."

Chaudhry, responding to Nawaz's remarks regarding Pakistan being subjected to military rule for 33 years, said the PML-N supremo "was himself a part of the system for 15 years and served as a puppet".

'Imran Khan leaves such patients fearful'

Meanwhile, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail said that he had now "understood the nature of Nawaz's illness" and that the disease "befalls those who loot the nation's wealth and flee".

"The patient instead of providing a money trail lashes out at NAB," he said, adding: "Imran Khan appears in [such patients'] dreams and leaves them in a fearful state".

Bilawal 'only read out from a scripted speech'

Speaking to Geo News following Nawaz's speech, PM's aide on interior and accountability, Shahzad Akbar, said the "nation just heard, against the law, the live speech of a convicted criminal".

"And then they claim that the media is not free in Pakistan! They say 'vote ko izzat dou' [respect the vote] and as usual, as soon as the wind blows, they abandon the voters and flee to London," Akbar said.

"[Nawaz] is adamant that only those judges are acceptable to him who acquit him despite the evidence," he added.

The adviser also criticised Bilawal, stating that since the PPP boss could "only read out from a scripted speech, he was claiming 'the former prime minister is not being allowed to speak'".

"The whole nation is watching the real face of your former prime minister, as well as you! It seems that Sherry [Rehman] is sitting far away and was unable to correct the written speech.

"The opposition tried to blackmail the [government] over the FATF bill," Akbar added, terming the APC as "nothing more than a gang of fugitive criminals and accused individuals".

'Worst economic crisis was inherited'

Listing "signs" of the opposition's "panic", Senator Faisal Javed said that the government had worked to uplift several sectors of the country and that the PTI had inherited the "worst economic crisis".