Hitting back:PM tells rivals he will not step down

Blames his predecessor for chronic power outages

OKARA: As calls for his resignation rose to a crescendo in the aftermath of the Panamagate verdict, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday struck a defiant note, telling his political rivals that he would never step aside.

Sharif mocked the calls for his resignation, led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying that Imran Khan’s party has no other business than calling for his resignation. “You’re not suited for politics. You don’t know how to run the country. Go, play cricket,” the premier said while addressing the cricketer-turned-politician.

He was speaking at a public meeting in Okara’s football ground – a day after his political arch-nemesis, Imran Khan, addressed a rally in Islamabad where he had renewed his call for Premier Sharif to step down. He also mocked Imran’s rally calling it a ‘tiny gathering’.

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The prime minister blamed his predecessors for the chronic power outages in the country. “People must hold those politicians who bequeathed us load-shedding accountable for their inefficiency,” he added. Sharif said his political rivals were trying to use power outages to rally support against the PML-N.

“But by next year, not only load-shedding will be banished forever, but electricity tariff will also be brought down,” he claimed. “From now onwards, one power project will be inaugurated every month.”

Citing the power projects his administration has undertaken, Sharif said one of them, the Qadirabad project, would soon be generating 1,300MW of electricity, adding that he would soon visit Qadirabad for its inauguration.



Work on the Lahore-Multan Motorway has already begun and work on the Okara-Depalpur section would soon start, benefiting the people of adjoining areas, he said. He promised to visit Depalpur soon after the completion of this major project.

The prime minister announced other projects for Okara, including laying of a main natural gas pipeline at a cost of Rs470 million, construction of a fly-over at Depalpur Chowk costing Rs740 million, and building city roads at an additional cost of Rs200 million.

Sharif also pledged to establish an industrial estate at Okara.

Appreciating the huge turnout at the rally, he said it was a positive sign, adding that the number of people attending this meeting was far greater than the one in 2013.

Calling Okara the heart of Pakistan, the prime minister said that the district had belonged to PML-N in 2013 and the people of this city would once again vote for his party in the 2018 elections.  The PML-N, he said, would not be deterred by politically-motivated protests against his government, adding that it would continue with its mission to build roads and highways.