Imran Khan supporters protest outside Nawaz Sharif’s London home

INTERNATIONAL DESK: supporters on Sunday agitated outside former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence in London after Imran Khan was voted out of power by opposition parties.

A confrontation between supporters of Imran Khan-led PTI and PML-N turned into an arena of slurs and slogans against each party’s leadership outside Avenfield flats in London, the residence of Nawaz Sharif.

Holding flags of Pakistan, during the demonstrations, PTI workers chanted slogans against the ouster of the PM. Meanwhile, supporters of the PML-N also reached the Avenfield flats to show solidarity with Nawaz Sharif, the party supremo, ARY News reported.

Police, in order to control the situation between the two groups, reached the Avenfield apartments.

“Crowd in front of Avenfield chanting ‘Terrain’s dad is a thief, Qasim dad’s is a thief, Salman’s dad is a thief’ terrain is Imran Khan’s lovechild which @ImranKhanPTI doesn’t own even after a New York court’s ruling,” said Santosh Kumar Bugti, former Information Secretary PML-N Balochistan.

Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of Imran Khan took a jibe at the ongoing political turmoil by commenting “purana Pakistan” in one of the protest videos surfacing online. This was an apparent reference to slogans being raised by the opposition parties after the ouster of Imran Khan.

Prior to assuming office in 2018, Imran Khan had vowed to create a “naya Pakistan” — one with zero corruption and a prosperous economy. However, as time went by there were fewer takers of this sloganeering.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday hailed the adoption of a no-confidence vote against Imran Khan as he asked the members of the Pakistan National Assembly to mark 10th April 2022, as an important date in the country’s history.

Addressing the Pakistani parliamentarians after the motion was passed against Imran Khan, Bilawal Zardari recalled what had happened on April 10 and said on this day, Pakistan approved the 1973 Constitution.

“On April 10, 1986, Benazir Bhutto ended her self-imposed exile and arrived in Lahore to launch her struggle against former Pakistan President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq,” he said,

“Today [on] April 10, 2022, we welcome [you] back to the purana Pakistan,” said Bilawal in the Pakistan National Assembly. “I have a message for the Pakistani youth that they should never give up on their dreams as nothing is impossible. Democracy is the best revenge,” he added.