Court decision can’t weaken my relationship with people: Sharif

Islamabad, Nov 19 (IANS) Kicking off his ruling partys mass contact campaign, disqualified Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Sunday that no decision of the court can weaken his relationship with the masses.

"The (large) number of people gathered here, and their support proves that no decision of the court can separate me and the people," he told supporters while addressing a rally in Abbottabad.

The people, he added, expressed the same support for him in the 2013 general elections. "If someone thinks I will be defeated, then they are wrong," the former Prime Minister maintained. "I'm not one who is going to be defeated here."

With Sunday's rally, the deposed Prime Minister has kicked off his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) drive to reach out to the masses. Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 following its landmark verdict in the Panama Papers case.

"Sit-ins were staged as soon as I assumed responsibilities as the Prime Minister," he said, adding, "However, we continued to remained engaged in development work."

Then, he added, the Panama "drama" was staged. "If I were a dictator, I would have disintegrated from you and left, but I promise not to leave you and I hope that the people gathered here won't leave me either."

On Saturday, the National Accountability Bureau, Lahore sent a reminder to the bureau's chairman, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, to initiate the process of placing the names of all accused in the Avenfield corruption reference on the Exit Control List (ECL).