Shehbaz fires a broadside at Imran, Zardari

Rules out any internal rift in the PML-N but says difference of opinion does exist

LAHORE: Targeting his political rivals, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s 100-day plan while accusing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari of ruining Sindh and particularly Karachi.

“Imran has given an agenda of 100 days but people rightfully ask what has he done during his party’s five years rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).  Imran’s government has devastated the K-P and they cannot befool the nation through 100 days agenda,” Shehbaz said

The Punjab chief minister was responding to the media after inaugurating different projects at Okara district’s revamped district headquarters hospital (DHQ) on Tuesday.

He said: “Imran has given his 100 days agenda while we have already completed more than thousand development projects of public welfare and totally revolutionised the health and education sectors.”

Shehbaz said Zardari, whose party rules Sindh province, left for Dubai after playing havoc with Karachi and devastating Sindh by ‘looting wealth of the nation with both hands’.

“[Imran] Niazi has devastated the K-P province while Zardari has ruined Sindh and Karachi has become a victim of their maladministration. They have usurped hundreds of billions of rupees and should be held accountable for this,” he said.

He said the people will differentiate between the good and the bad in the upcoming elections and they will also decide who has served them and who wasted their time,” the chief minister said.

To questions about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said NAB is a constitutional body and digging out corruption is its responsibility. However, accountability should be transparent otherwise people will also speak up about it.

Shehbaz said the country can be transformed into a Pakistan of Quaid Azam and Allama Iqbal through indiscriminate process of accountability.

“I would request the apex court, NAB and other institutions to make the country stronger by working together. Those who are working should be appreciated while the corrupt should be held accountable.”

Internal differences in PML-N

Shehbaz, however, played down speculations about an internal divide within the ruling party and said difference of opinion exists in all political parties and shows the true spirit of democracy.

He was responding to questions regarding the conflicting narratives within the PML-N, where unlike his elder brother Nawaz Sharif and his close confidants who are continuously criticizing the judiciary and security establishment, he had taken a reconciliatory tone.

“It is not about who is right and who is wrong. It is about point of views. In parties, we can have difference in point of views or narratives that are developed after consultation,” he said.