“Form 47 Can Give You Government, But You Lose Respect”: Former PML-N Senator Javed Abbasi

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Javed Abbasi has made candid remarks about the February 8 elections and the formation of his own party’s current government, saying that gaining power through Form 47 comes at the cost of public respect.

Speaking on journalist and anchorperson Amir Abbas’s podcast, Abbasi said, “Form 47 can give you a government, but you lose your respect. Your family may get the chair, but you fall out of people’s hearts.”

He said Nawaz Sharif had apparently decided that preserving power was more important, adding that respect was something that could come and go.

Abbasi also acknowledged the popularity of PTI founder Imran Khan and the electoral performance of PTI-backed candidates in the February 8 elections. He described it as a “revolution,” saying that despite Imran Khan being in jail, facing what he termed injustices, and the party losing its electoral symbol, large numbers of people still came out in support of him and PTI.

"فارم 47 سے حکومت تو مل جاتی ہے لیکن عزت چلی جاتی ہے، اپنے خاندان کو کرسی تو مل جاتی ہے لیکن آپ لوگوں کے دلوں سے اتر جاتے ہیں، نواز شریف نے یہ فیصلہ کیا کہ مجھے اقتدار بچانا ہے جبکہ عزت تو آنے جانیوالی چیز ہے، یہ انقلاب تھا کہ عمران خان جیل میں، زیادتیاں ہو رہی تھیں، انتخابی نشان… pic.twitter.com/YQmSSvHIdI

— Ameer Abbas (@ameerabbas84) August 31, 2026

He claimed that in Lahore, the PML-N managed to win only one provincial assembly seat out of the total seats contested by the party on February 8.

Raising serious questions over the election results, Abbasi said that “the biggest crime in history is stealing a mandate.” He questioned how someone could face their children and family after knowing they had lost an election but were declared winners after midnight.

“If your conscience dies, then nothing remains,” he said, adding that future generations would never forgive those sitting in Parliament and positions of power for what he described as a grave wrongdoing.