Shehbaz says Pakistan’s improved corruption index position shows ‘PML-N’s honesty’

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that Pakistan’s improved Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking demonstrates his party’s honesty and sincerity towards the country, Aaj News reported.

Pakistan’s score improved by a significant seven spots in Transparency International’s (TI) latest CPI, and it is now ranked 133rd among 180 countries in comparison to its 140th place last year.

Speaking at a press conference, Shehbaz asserted that the level of corruption in a society could be used to determine a leader and party’s sincerity.

“The credit goes to Nawaz Sharif,” he remarked, alluding to Pakistan’s improved standing in the corruption index.

He regretted that in 2013, accusations of corruption were leveled against Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N.

“With God’s grace, these accusations were never proven,” he claimed.

According to the former prime minister, corruption significantly grew under Imran Khan’s rule and no inquiry was allowed to be completed.

While stating that everyone has the right to run for office, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif claimed that “purchasing votes” is the biggest possible insult to the electoral process.

Shehbaz declared: “Everyone has the right to engage in electioneering, but this business is nothing more than demeaning the vote.”

He stated that the fate of Pakistan will be decided by the next election, adding that the results of the polls on February 8 would affect millions of individuals in the nation.

The Federal Minister of Information, Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs, Murtaza Solangi, said on Saturday that all arrangements had been finalized for conducting peaceful, fair, free, and transparent elections in Pakistan on February 8.

The PMLN is running a vigorous election campaign, with party leaders speaking at events and staging rallies all around Pakistan.

In an apparent jab at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, three-time prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif asserted on Friday that the real youth of the country supports his party, excluding those he referred to as the “mummy-daddy ones.”

Earlier, PML-N Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz also criticized the PTI founder, stating, “PML-N does not indulge in blame game; we believe in serving the people.”

She added that no one could surpass PML-N in serving the people, as she prepares to contest elections for the first time, following the overturning of her conviction last year.