PML-N’s win in Cantt polls means end of PTI: Shehbaz

Opposition leader warns of taking legal action if next elections are rigged

SIALKOT:

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the party’s victory in the cantonment board elections was no mere fete and it meant the end of PTI’s politics.

“There is no denying the fact that the cantonment board elections took place without any interference,” the opposition leader in the National Assembly said while addressing a convention of the party’s activists in Sialkot.

“The majority of Punjab voted for PML-N. The PTI died at its birthplace,” he added.

“Next time, the general elections will have to be held in a transparent manner without any rigging.”

He warned that if the polls were not held in a free and fair manner, his party would pursue legal action as per its right.

The former Punjab chief minister maintained that the rising inflation had taken its toll on the people, who were disappointed by the PTI and now remembered the days of the government of former premier Nawaz Sharif.

“From 2013 to 2018, sugar was Rs52 per kg, but in the next three years, the commodity worth billions of rupees was imported,” he said.

He added that the current government had benefited its “ATMs” in the process and billions were lost.
The PML-N president further claimed that the PTI government was putting its name on the plaques of PML-N projects.

“Around three years later, people are remembering the PML-N and Nawaz Sharif because hospitals, medicines and tests were free back then and millions of children received free laptops based on their performance.

“Today, those children are learning using the same laptops during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The opposition leader said the PTI government had brought the country’s economy to the brink of a collapse.

He added that the PTI had promised the nation of providing five million houses and 10 million jobs.

“Instead of that happening, millions have lost their jobs.”

Shehbaz recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan, before coming to power, had said if the rupee fell against the dollar, it meant that the government was corrupt.

“Today, the dollar is at Rs170 and the rupee is continuing to depreciate. Then he [PM Imran] has the nerve to claim that he is an honest ruler.”

The opposition leader claimed that the country was in “dire need of rule of law and of civil supremacy”.
Responding to Shehbaz’s criticism, Federal Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz said the PML-N president was “not in his right mind".

He added that the opposition leader was speaking on inflation while wearing a wristwatch worth Rs10.5 million.

Shibli said Shehbaz was talking about the woes of a common man while living in a palace.
He also told the former Punjab chief minister to explain how the money in his bank accounts had “increased” during the PML-N government’s tenure.