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Police detain supporters of former imprisoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as they gather in front of Adiala Prison where he is being held in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, July 19, 2018 A spokesman for Sharif's political party, the Muslim League of Pakistan, said Thursday that the former leader is being detained in appalling conditions as he waits for the outcome of his appeal on a 10 years on corruption charges. (B.K. Bangash / Associated Press)
ISLAMABAD – Campaigns are gearing up for national elections in Pakistan despite election-related violence, and spokesman for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's political party Sharif was detained Pervaiz Rashid, spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League, visited Sharif in jail on Thursday where he said the conditions of the former prime minister were "deplorable". in the midst of growing political tensions before the July 25 parliamentary vote.
Sharif "is kept in solitary confinement and his daughter, who is also detained in the same prison, was allowed to see him for the first time today." six days, said Rashid. Shahbaz Sharif, who currently heads the Pakistan Muslim League, said Wednesday that his brother was forced to sleep on his cell floor during his first night in prison.
Former cricket star Imran Khan enjoys the support of the country's powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan directly or indirectly for most of its 71-year history. Khan hopes to become prime minister.
Rashid predicts, however, that the Muslim League party will win the vote if the elections are not rigged.
Sharif, dismissed by the country's Supreme Court last July, faces several trials.
In June, her daughter Maryam Nawaz was also sentenced to seven years in the same case, as a result of documents leaked by a law firm in Panama. They were both sentenced in absentia in Britain and arrested when they returned home to serve their sentences.
On Thursday, dozens of Sharif supporters holding flowers gathered in front of Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi City. They chanted slogans in favor of Sharif, calling him a "lion," who is also the electoral symbol of his party.
Sharif's party claimed that military intelligence forced some of its candidates to join Khan's party.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of former assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, went to the eastern province of Punjab to lead the campaigns of his party's candidates. On Thursday, he told reporters that his party would do well if the rules of the game were equal. Without naming anyone, Zardari claimed that Khan was "facilitated" by the country's institutions.
Young Zardari tries to revive the support of his Pakistani People's Party, which had a large audience in Punjab, the largest province in the country. His party still enjoys an advantage over other political parties in his home province of Sindh in the south of the country.
Voting results in Punjab province will likely determine who will form the next government. Khan and Sharif's parties face fierce competition in Punjab, where Sharif's party has ruled since the 2008 elections.
Politicians continued their election campaign despite last week's attacks on separate rallies of candidates, during which 153 people were killed. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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