Deposed prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Thursday disclosed that they were ready to dissolve the government after the successful vote of no-confidence against former prime minister Imran Khan. But when the latter issued ultimatums, they changed their mind.
Addressing a meeting with office bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Lahore on Thursday, Nawaz said that his views on whether the rainbow coalition under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) banner should complete the government's tenure or immediately go for elections are well known and that he was in favour of polls after the vote of no-confidence to oust then prime minister Imran Khan.
"It was never my intention to come into power immediately after that [Imran Khan's] government," he said, adding that Shehbaz and all other party members knew he wanted to go directly into elections.
Nawaz went on to say that Shehbaz was ready to dissolve the government and step down and had even written his speech.
"His speech was ready. I had reviewed his speech. But just a few hours before he was supposed to read it, I told him that they have given a threat and given an ultimatum, we must take a stand," he said, adding that they deferred the decision to step down, took over the government and had to make tough decisions to stave off financial default.
پاکستان کو ڈیفالٹ سے بچانا بھی بہت بڑی ذمہ داری تھی جو ہم نے پوری کی۔ شہبازشریف صاحب کی تقریر تیار تھی شام کو "سٹیپ ڈاؤن" کرنا تھا چند گھنٹے پہلے میں نے ان سے کہا کہ انہوں نے الٹی میٹم دیا ہے دھمکی دی ہے الٹی میٹم کے سامنے آپ نے کھڑے ہونا ہے ملک ڈیفالٹ کی طرف جارہا ہے آپ کھڑے… pic.twitter.com/NRRzOtoI0C
— PMLN (@pmln_org) November 16, 2023
Then, as decisions were taken one after another, it became binding on us to remain in power and take care of matters.
Nawaz congratulated Shehbaz, Ishaq Dar, Khurram Dastgir, Marriyum Aurangzeb, and others who made tough decisions and governed during extreme difficulties.