LAHORE – Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz was given a rousing welcome by party leaders and workers on his release from Kot Lakhpat Jail on Saturday after spending around 20 months behind the bars in money laundering case.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has set up 12 reception camps for giving a warm welcome to the party stalwart.
PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz along with party legislators and workers received Hamza Shehbaz outside the prison.
After being released, Hamza moved towards his residence in a caravan. The PML-N workers, carrying party flags and portraits of top party leadership, showered rose petals on the vehicle of Hamza Shehbaz.
They chanted slogans in favour of party leadership and against the incumbent rulers.
Lahore High Court had granted bail to Hamza Shehbaz with directions to submit two surety bonds of Rs one million each. His release orders were issued by the Accountability Court’s duty judge Akmal Khan after receiving the surety bonds.
On June 11, 2019, NAB had arrested Hamza after the LHC rejected his interim bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills and money laundering cases.
Long March after Daska by–election on March 18, says Maryam
Addressing highly charged workers at a rally, Hamza Shehbaz said that rulers will be held accountable for political vengeance.
He said the rulers were burning in the fire of revenge and when they failed got infuriated. He said Imran Khan let the anger of his defeats vent on the masses by increasing the prices of daily commodities including sugar and flour.
He said that Nawaz Sharif was the only leader who returned from London to go to jail, leaving his ailing wife in the hospital. He said Nawaz Sharif went to jail with his daughter when his wife was on a deathbed in the London hospital. He said it has been three years since the fake government has staged the accountability drama and has jailed Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, Rana Sanaullah and Hanif Abbassi but could not prove anything against them. He said whether it is a Broadsheet issue or any other matter, the rulers resorted to only lies. He said the rulers held secret meetings with Broadsheet but could not find anything against the Sharif family.
He said the rulers waved papers carrying fake news of David Rose to prove Shehbaz Sharif guilty but later the reporter admitted before London court that it was a fabricated story.
Talking to media before leaving for Kot Lakhpat Jail to receive her cousin, Maryam Nawaz claimed that the PTI legislators were looking for a ‘safe passage’ and there was likelihood that the need for the long march may not arise, although, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) planned to hold a long march after Daska by-election on March 18.
“Even PTI legislators were not willing to vote for the party candidates in the Senate elections,” she said, adding, “Selected PM Imran Khan’s poor performance has caused a dent to his vote bank.”
She asked as to why the PTI was appealing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s verdict of ordering re-election in NA-75, Daska when it, as per its own claim, had nothing to hide. “
The reason why you are dying to protect the officials involved in rigging is that they would disclose your names,” she alleged.
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