Nawaz Sharif alleges ex-chief justice Saqib Nisar conspired to oust him as Pakistan PM in 2017

Lahore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said he had an audio recording of former chief justice Saqib Nisar in which he is allegedly heard saying to oust him and to bring in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

Demanding action against those judges of the Supreme Court involved in his ouster as the prime minister in 2017, the 74-year-old three-time former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo also expressed his disappointment over the attitude of the people of Pakistan towards him and his party.

He was addressing a party meeting in Lahore on Saturday in which it was decided that he would be re-elected as the party president on May 28.

Nawaz was removed from the office of the party president after he was disqualified as Prime Minister in 2017 in the Panama Papers-related corruption cases. His younger brother Shehbaz Sharif then took the helm of the party before resigning from the post last week.

Decrying his disqualification, Nawaz said nowhere in the world do judges send a prime minister home on phoney charges.

"I want to ask why I was ousted from the PM office," he said and disclosed that he had with him an audio proof of former CJP Nisar in which he was heard saying, "We have to remove Nawaz Sharif to bring in Imran Khan as premier."

"A case should be initiated against retired Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi for making huge assets and also other judges involved in this conspiracy," he said. The PML-N supremo also demanded an independent investigation to get to the bottom of this conspiracy against him and his government.

Not happy with the people of Pakistan for not voting for his party in the February 8 general elections, Nawaz said, "I ask the people... do you think while giving votes. I need an answer from the nation."

Similarly, he said he was unhappy with the nation as it stood silent when he was illegally removed from the office of the prime minister.

Nawaz's hopes to become the prime minister for a record fourth time after returning to Pakistan from a four-year self-imposed exile in London last October were dashed as Imran Khan's party despite fighting elections without its electoral symbol of a ‘cricket bat’ emerged victorious.

However, Nawaz's PML-N made a six-party coalition government and Shehbaz Sharif, who calls himself a darling of the military establishment, became the prime minister.