ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday hit the election campaign trail to lead his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in Feb. 8 elections, amid widespread accusations that the backing of the all-powerful military is already giving him an edge over rivals.

The campaign for the polls, delayed since November, has so far been lukewarm amid an uncertain political environment, with Sharif’s main rival and jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party facing what is widely believed to be a military-backed crackdown. The army says it does not prefer any particular party, nor meddle in political affairs.

Three-time PM Sharif returned to Pakistan in October last year after spending four years in self-imposed exile in London to lead his party in the election campaign. His PML-N party enjoys deep support in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province where he is expected to lead rallies in the coming weeks, besides in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Sharif, elected prime minister in 1990, 1997, and 2013, has blamed his 2017 ouster and subsequent corruption convictions on the military, with which he had fallen out. But analysts now believe the army has thrown its support to Sharif, 74, after it was locked in a standoff with former cricket star Khan, 71.

“If Nawaz Sharif were not ousted in 2017 … every person in Hafizabad would have employment,” the PML-N leader said while addressing a public gathering in Hafizabad district of Punjab province. “Pakistan would have become the Asian Tiger.”

In July 2017, the Supreme Court invoked corruption charges to remove Sharif from office, and later also disqualified him from heading his PML-N party ahead of July 2018 elections. This cut short the third tenure of a man who has been a leading figure in Pakistani politics for nearly three decades since his first term in the office from 1990 to 1993. Since his return to Pakistan, however, all court cases against Sharif have been dismissed and the bar against him contesting elections has also been lifted.

In his public address, Sharif listed his achievements in his previous term, including eliminating militancy and power shortages.

“My mission is to make Pakistan stand on its own feet and God willing, we will fulfil this mission,” he said as he concluded his brief speech without sharing a detailed economic revival plan.

PML-N Senator Afnan Mushahid said the party would be unveiling a detailed manifesto soon, which would cover its economic recovery plan and a solution for problems like inflation and unemployment.

“We have been checking each and everything before launching the manifesto as we don’t want to make promises with the public which we can not fulfil,” he said, adding that Sharif would be addressing around a dozen public gatherings before polling day on Feb. 8.