Sharif made the remarks while referring to the October 12, 1999, coup, when the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Sharif's democratically elected government.
Sharif said the future of the country was in democracy.
"We have an elected parliament, an independent judiciary and vibrant media to guard the freedom and liberties of the people of Pakistan as enshrined in the Constitution," Sharif was quoted as saying by the state-run APP news agency.
Former military ruler Musharraf had overthrown the Sharif's elected government and sent him into exile in Saudi Arabia.
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Musharraf has been held for nearly six months at his Chak Shahzad farmhouse, guarded by nearly 300 security personnel, including soldiers and snipers.
He took power in a 1999 coup and ruled as President until he resigned when he was threatened with impeachment in 2008. He then went into self-imposed exile and returned to Pakistan in March in a bid to resurrect his political career.