Shehbaz favours national govt even if PML-N wins simple majority in polls

PML-N president rules out construction of Kalabagh dam without consensus of provinces


Our Correspondent June 26, 2018
Shehbaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: Shehbaz Sharif, the president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has said that he would favour a 'national unity government' even if his party wins the upcoming general elections with a simple majority.

"Pakistan is faced with myriad challenges. And it's not possible for one party to surmount all these challenges alone," Shehbaz said on Tuesday but added in the same breath that it was his personal opinion which might or might not receive his party's endorsement.

"You cannot hold me accountable, if my party does not endorse my opinion," he said at an interaction with senior media persons at a local hotel on Tuesday. He was flanked by senior party leaders Mushahid Hussain Syed, Miftah Ismael, and Mushahidullah Khan

PML-N kicks off election campaign with tall promises for Karachi

"I'm the president of PML-N and this is my personal opinion, but then there is the party's Central Executive Committee and Central Working Committee. They will make the final call," he said.

Shehbaz said his party would fully cooperate with whosoever won the upcoming elections. He doesn't have any doubts that the election would be free and fair. "We sincerely wish that the elections are free and fair."

The interior ministry has said that foreign and domestic fringe elements might disrupt election campaigns by mounting attacks on political leaders and election staff.

Asked about these security threats, Shehbaz said if the interim government considered them to be real, then it should convene a meeting of all stakeholders, including political leaders, and brief them.

Shehbaz laughed off a question regarding who could be behind the threat to bomb the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) headquarters. "How do I know? I'm not the MI chief," he said.

The security of the NAB headquarters was handed over to police commandos on Monday after the bureau chief revealed that they had received threat to bomb the building.

Shehbaz said his hands were clean and he had nothing to fear. "We support accountability. But in order for the accountability to receive widespread public acceptance, it should be fair, transparent and across-the-board," he said. "We saved billions of rupees in different projects during the last five years."

The country's premier graft buster fears billions of rupees of corruption has been done in dozens of projects in Punjab, the province where Shehbaz Sharif has ruled for five years.

"Billions of rupees of corruption has been detected in the affairs of 50 or so companies in Punjab. Billions of rupees were spent on consultancies (in Saaf Pani Company). I am thankful to the chief justice of Pakistan for taking notice of this scam and reposing his trust in NAB," NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said on Monday.

NAB arrested PML-N candidate Raja Qamarul Islam in connection with the Saaf Pani project. Islam is a PML-N candidate against estranged party stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from NA-59 (Rawalpindi).

In his opening statement, Shehbaz listed achievements of his party's five years in power. According to him, terrorism and chronic power crisis topped the PML-N's agenda when it had been voted to power in the 2013 elections.

"Terrorism has been defeated. And if not 100%, 95% of the electricity crisis has been addressed. Load-shedding is now a thing of the past," he claimed.

The actual situation belies Shehbaz's claim. The power shortfall on Monday peaked to a record high of over 9,000 megawatts (MW), leading to prolonged power outages in different parts of the country.

Shehbaz Sharif to start election campaign from Karachi

According to available figures, power demand on Monday stood at 25,044 MW against a supply of 15,766 MW registering a record shortfall of 9,278 MW. The shortfall had resulted in 2 to 17 hours of load-shedding nationwide with consumers in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa being the most affected by the increasing electricity deficit.

Shehbaz identified water shortage, solid waste management, and public transport as three main issues of Karachi. "If voted to power, we will resolve Karachi's perennial water shortage within three years," he said. "And the solid waste disposal issue would be resolved within six months."

However, he said Kalabagh dam, the controversial project which was recently resurrected by the top court, would not be built unless all four provinces evolved a consensus on its construction.

"The solution to the problem lies with Bhasha dam – and it would be built, come what may," he added. He sought to quash the impression that the PML-N government has not done anything for the project. "We have completed the feasibility study and acquired land at a cost of Rs100 billion," he added.

In the public transport sector, Shehbaz said that if voted to power, the PML-N would run three metro bus services besides an orange train.

COMMENTS (2)

Shakil | 5 years ago | Reply there is no need to spend billions of tax payers money if only national government is to be made!
kilo | 5 years ago | Reply Yes, national govt. is a good idea from Shehbaz but before that Sharifs (and that also includes Shehbaz Sharif and his progeny) must come clean and account for their vast wealth spread around many continents.
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