In audio message, Nawaz Sharif urges people to vote for PML-N in Pak polls

Islamabad: Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail, has urged the citizens of the country to vote for his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the general elections on July 25.

In an audio message posted on Twitter by his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, he said, "July 25 is just around the corner. I am listening to your passionate chants of 'Vote ko Izzat Do' (respect the vote) from the prison."

Sharif showed unhappiness that he and his daughter were imprisoned for leading a campaign of respecting the mandate.

The three-time prime minister said, "The time has come to make this movement of respecting the vote a great success and deliver a grand verdict that will wash away the previous verdicts, which has made Pakistan a 'graveyard of justice."

Stressing that it was a golden opportunity for the voters, Sharif urged voters to step out of their houses and vote for the 'lion' (PML-N's party symbol) on Wednesday to change the fate of Pakistan.

In a previous audio message reportedly recorded in London last week, Sharif made an emotional appeal to the citizens of the country to vote in large numbers. He urged voters to make July 25 a memorable day.

On July 6, Sharif and his daughter were convicted while they were away in London, in connection to the Avenfield reference case by the Accountability Court.

While Sharif was given ten years of imprisonment and fined eight million pounds, Maryam was awarded eight years in jail and fined two million pounds.

When they arrived at Lahore on July 13, the two were taken to Islamabad by a chartered flight, from where they were taken to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Sharif and Maryam were attending to the former's ailing wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Sharif's brother and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif expressed confidence that his party would win the general elections despite all the "injustices", according to Geo TV.

While addressing a rally at Basti Talpur on the last day of campaigning on Monday, Shehbaz said that Sharif removed darkness from Pakistan and took the country to great heights.

The deadline for campaigning by all the parties has come to an end at 12 am (Tuesday local time).

Pakistan will go to polls on Wednesday.