Ex-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif Receives Backlash for Wearing Gucci Hat Worth PKR 1 Lakh

Lahore – As Pakistan gears up for its highly anticipated general elections, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif is receiving major flak for wearing a Gucchi hat, which many claimed is over 1 lakh Pakistani Rupees. Sharif was seen donning the cap during his recent campaign rally at Nanakana Sahib in Punjab province. Many believe that Sharif's choice of hat was extremely ignorant since the cash-strapped country is still struggling to recover from a historic economic crisis. While many condemned Sharif for wearing a designer hat some pointed out that the colours on the stripes of the cap were similar to the flag of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. However, it is important to note that Gucci products are known for their red and green stripes. 

This is not the first time Sharif was slammed for living a luxurious lifestyle while the people of Pakistan continue to starve. While the disgraced former Pakistani premier was living in London, he was called out for  “looting” the debt-ridden country and “making a medical excuse to stay in England”  after a video surfaced on the internet where Sharif can be seen arriving in a Bentley car at luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s store. “Why is Nawaz Sharif wearing a Gucci hat that every wanna-be gangster wears in high school, one user wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. ”Dear @gucci are you making products/articles for donkeys (#NawazSharif ) I need one for my dog," another used exclaimed. One netizen went on to compare Shariff with Imran. “There was a time when Pakistan was being represented by Imran Khan, but now a Gucci cap-wearing Sharif insists that he is a Pakistani local,” the user wrote. 

Sharif's lifestyle has been questioned in the past

Last year, the disgraced former premier of Pakistan was reportedly confronted by a Pakistani woman while shopping at the upmarket Harrods department store in London. The Pakistani Muslim League Supremo returned home in October 2023 after four years of exile in the United Kingdom. On Saturday, Sharif released the party manifesto that made a plethora of promises which included “cheap and increased electricity” as well as “speedy development”. Pakistan is currently engulfed in a major economic crisis. 

Pressures on domestic prices, external and fiscal balances, the exchange rate, and foreign exchange reserves mounted amid surging world commodity prices, global monetary tightening, recent catastrophic flooding, and domestic political uncertainty. Not only this, poverty is estimated to have increased due to deteriorating wages and job quality along with inflation that has eroded the country's purchasing power.