PM throws down the gauntlet

Stop hatching conspiracies, come fight us in political arena, Nawaz tells his rivals

LAHORE: Amidst the Panamagate hullabaloo, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday challenged his arch nemeses to a duel asking them to “fight us in the political arena. We’re ready”.

Though he didn’t name anyone, it was understood that he was referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, who has been pursuing the Panamagate case against the ruling Sharif family.

“You’ve been defeated by the PML-N several times. And you’ll meet the same fate in the next parliamentary elections,” Sharif said. “Fight us in the political arena instead of hatching conspiracies,” he added while speaking at the inauguration of the 768MW first unit of power plant in Haveli Bahadur Shah near Jhang.

Sharif was speaking a day after Imran Khan asked the PML-N to tell the nation who has been conspiring against the government – the judiciary or the army? The PML-N leaders claim that the Panamagate scandal is a conspiracy to destabilise the government and derail democracy.



Sharif taunted his rivals for “hiding behind sit-ins and hatching conspiracies”. “Our rivals are only worried that Pakistan is progressing but we want to make it clear that we shall continue to initiate development projects,” he added. “We will hold accountable those impeding development in the country.”

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been probing offshore assets of the Sharif family on the instructions of the Supreme Court.

“You also hide behind the JIT. It is cowardice. You should come and compete in politics,” he added. “The nation knows what we are doing for the country. And the nation also knows what you have been doing for the last four years.”

Irrespective of the conspiracies, the government would continue to pursue its agenda of development and serving the people, he said.

The Haveli Bahadur Shah project, which has a total production capacity of 1,230MW, is a combined cycle power plant. It is fuelled by LNG, and has been completed in 21 months.

Sharif also announced to lay the foundation stone of 4,500MW Dasu power plant on Monday, saying it would happen the same day the JIT was due to submit its report to the Supreme Court.

“Do you know about the JIT,” he asked those in attendance. “You also probably know what it has been doing.” The country, he added, has been experiencing political uncertainty which is reflected in the stock exchange.

Ending load shedding

The prime minister said it was his party’s promise and commitment to banish darkness from the country and added that they have fulfilled this commitment to a large extent. “We will InshaAllah completely eliminate load shedding from the country,” he added.

Similarly, he said tourism was getting a boost in the country, particularly in the hilly areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, K-P and Azad Kashmir, which were flocked by tourists.

He said the GDP growth crossed five per cent during the previous fiscal year due to enhanced industrial and agricultural activities. “The economy is improving and bringing in prosperity,” he added. “The purchasing power of the masses over the last four years has increased.”

Nawaz said that besides the huge development work being carried out in Balochistan, the government was also constructing motorways in K-P.

“The government has provided Rs26 billion for the completion of the Lowari tunnel project over the last two years,” he said, adding that the tunnel project which was lingering on over the last several decades would be inaugurated within the next two months.