K-P will slip away from PTI in 2018, PM warns

PM performs groundbreaking ceremony of DI Khan Motorway

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday warned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government that the province is "slipping away" from their hands.

"You will not be ruling over K-P in 2018," the premier warned PTI while performing the ground-breaking of DI Khan-Hakla Motorway at Yarik near Dera Ismail Khan.

The 285-kilometre-long motorway is part of the western route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and will be completed at a cost of over Rs129 billion within two years, according to Radio Pakistan.

Criticising Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, the prime minister said: “I have not come here to talk about my opponents. Those who are destined to stage sit-ins will keep protesting but we will keep working.”



The prime minister asked people if they had seen “any new Pakistan being built” in their locality. “Those who wanted to build a new Pakistan have not even been able to build a new Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” PM Nawaz said, adding “You have lost Peshawar’s election in K-P, where the PTI has stood fourth.”

An Express News screengrab of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressing a public gathering in DI Khan on May 17, 2016.

The prime minister also announced Rs500 million development funds and construction of an agriculture university for DI Khan district.



Further, the premier inaugurated a gas-supply project for the people of DI Khan which, he said, will be completed at a cost of Rs770 million.

“Rs120 billion have already been allocated for Chashma Bank project which will be completed within three months. 65% of which will be given by the federal government while 35% will be approved by the provincial government,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister also thanked Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for supporting the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on matters of principle.

“Today we are striving to connect DI Khan to Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan through a network of roads and railways and this will bring an era of prosperity for the people of DI Khan.”



Will not allow conspiracies to succeed, says Fazl

Meanwhile, JUI-F chief while addressing the public gathering pledged his support for the prime minister against the opposition on the issue of Panama Papers leaks. “Today despite harsh weather a huge number of people have gathered here to listen to the prime minister which shows their support for democracy in the country,” Fazl said.

An Express News screengrab of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman addressing a public gathering in DI Khan on May 17, 2016.

The JUI-F chief said his party will keep backing up the government and will not let any conspiracy succeed against democracy. “Opposition parties have a right to criticise the government but they should remain in the limits which do not harm the democratic culture in the country,” he suggested.

“Those who hurled allegations against the prime minister have turned out to be the culprits.”



In April, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had approved Rs136.18 billion for the DI Khan Motorway project out of which Rs124.2 billion were earmarked for its construction and Rs11.97 billion were set aside for land acquisition and other related issues.

The CPEC is a network of roads and rail links that will connect China’s impoverished Xinjiang region to the Arabian Sea via Gwadar deep seaport in Balochistan.

[poll id="1481"]