The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) are likely to join hands in the upcoming elections.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal met STPP Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi at his residence and addressed the media at Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.
Iqbal expressed hope that his party will play a vital role in the next general elections in Sindh. He asked the people of Sindh to give a chance to his party to serve the people of the province to bring about development at par with Punjab will be brought in the province.
"If the people of Sindh want to see the performance of the N league they should visit Punjab," he said. "We want to give money back kind of guarantee to the people of Sindh to give us one chance to serve them."
Criticizing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's government, particularly Prime Minister Imran Khan, he viewed the new Pakistan as a nightmare for all. He blamed the incumbent government for historic inflation, poverty and unemployment, saying that over 20 million people have been pushed under the poverty line in the last three years.
"We all will have to save the old Pakistan which was Quaid-e-Azam's country." He said the PML-N's slogan about giving respect to vote is a slogan for rule of the ordinary people of Pakistan. He added that the slogan is not some political philosophy but a reality in this country.
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He warned that a nation which does not give due respect to their votes will remain weak and divided. "We didn't give recognition to the votes of East Pakistan and we saw how that part of our country separated from us." The PML-N's leader said if those who hold weapons as well as the violent groups are given power in the country the common people will remain weak.
Iqbal bewailed that the projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor which were put in the top gear by his party's government have been put in the neutral gear by PTI's government. "This government has turned the projects meant for the development of Pakistan into sick white elephants," he contended. "They have put the accelerator in full throttle but the gear is in neutral mode owing to which the car is not moving."
He claimed that during the PML-N's government $29 billion of foreign investment was made as part of the CPEC. According to him, Sindh also benefited from the CPEC projects and that his government made the Thar coal project a part of the CPEC. He said many energy projects were initiated in Sindh and his government also built Karachi-Hyderabad motorway which was the first motorway in the province.
The STPP's chairman Magsi said a hybrid political set up was launched to remove former PM Nawaz Sharif from power. We believe in the freedom of parliament and judiciary. He told that during their meeting they discussed the political situation in the country.
Both the leaders recalled that they were imprisoned in the same jail during the All Pakistan Democratic Movement's struggle to oust former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2021.
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