Fact-check: Video shows PM Sharif criticising Imran Khan, not his own party

A video circulating on social media, garnering over a million times, allegedly depicts a recent speech by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in which he appears to criticise his own political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), for its historical failure to uplift the lives of the impoverished.

The claim is inaccurate. The speech in question has misconstrued the prime minister’s words to suggest that he was censuring his own party’s administrations.

Claim

On April 13, an Instagram user, posted a short video clip of PM Shehbaz in which he can be heard saying: “The lives of the poor people did not change. But we kept lining our pockets day and night. We left no stone unturned to ensure our political opponents are thrown in jails. This is why today we have a begging bowl in our hands.”

Social media users, who commented under the post, believe that PM Shehbaz is criticising the PML-N’s past governments.

This post had been viewed over 1.3 million times, shared over 18,000 times and liked over 28,000 times, at the time of writing.

The video has also been shared on the platform X, formerly Twitter, alongside similar claims.

Fact

Contrary to online claims, the speech dates back to 2023, not recent times. In the speech, PM Shehbaz had directed criticism towards the government of his political rival, Imran Khan, rather than his own political party.

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes on Google found that it was first uploaded online on July 22, 2023, when PM Shehbaz delivered a speech during an event in Sheikhupura, Punjab.

Clips from his speech were later edited, to misleadingly suggest internal reprimand of his party’s administration.

The 31-minute speech was broadcasted live by Geo Television on July 22, 2023, and can be viewed in full on the following link:

Throughout the address, PM Shehbaz repeatedly references the tenure of former prime minister Imran, who was in office from July 2018 to April 2022, accusing his government of corruption in various public projects and lack of progress in improving the lives of the poor.

Towards the end of the speech, PM Shehbaz said the following words about Khan’s government:

“The lives of the poor people did not change. But we [Khan’s government] kept lining our pockets day and night. We [Khan’s government] left no stone unturned to ensure political opponents are thrown in jails. This is why today we [Pakistan] have a begging bowl in our hands.”

With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal.

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