Shehbaz lambasts govt over its ‘poor’ performance

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif has lambasted the ruling PTI over its “poor” performance, saying that time has come to send this government home and if it is not sent packing, “it will be too late for the country”.

Shehbaz, addressing a ceremony held in Lahore to commemorate the 49th death anniversary of PML-N leader Khawaja Rafique, said that irrespective of the performance of the previous governments, Imran Khan was voted to power by a lot of people, hoping that he would bring change. “Instead of bringing change, this regime has destroyed the country in every way.”

To do away with the impression of his aforesaid statement that implied that PML-N was finally admitting that the Imran Khan government was voted to power instead of being “imposed on the country by the establishment”, Shehbaz remarked that what an unfortunate day it was, when this man was imposed on the country.

In the three-and-a-half years in power, the incumbent government has brought the people of this country at a stage, where the citizens yearn for even a single meal in a day and where they don’t have money to buy milk for children.

“They promised jobs, and delivered unemployment; they promised houses and left hundreds of thousands roofless,” Shehbaz said, adding that the ruling PTI even failed to lay the foundation stone of a single house unit.

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Despite criticising the PML-N over development projects, “Imran Khan loves to unveil plaques on our projects”, Shehbaz said sarcastically. “If he is so fond of unveiling plaques, we could have given him this very job during our tenure.”

He said it was the PTI that created hurdles in the way of orange line, knowing very well that if the PML-N had managed to run this project during its tenure, the ruling party’s chances of coming to power would have nosedived.

He said that despite mega scandals that have surfaced during the PTI’s tenure, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) continues to look the other way. He said that he has been saying from the start that this was a NAB-Niazi nexus, urging the people to gear themselves up as the time had come to end the nexus.

He said that time had come when it would be “their collar and your hands”. “This government again wants to bring another mini-budget. It has kept Pakistan mortgage with the IMF for a few cents.”

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Shehbaz paid rich tribute to the services of Khawaja Muhammad Rafique. He appreciated his two sons – Khawaja Muhammad Saad Rafique and Khawaja Muhammad Salman Rafique – for carrying the torch lit by their father, and for standing by the party through thick and thin.

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, addressing the participants from London via video link, said, “The people in Pakistan have no role in bringing or sending any government home. They were kept from electing their own government.”

Upon realising that his statement would go against his party’s rule, he said, “Two or four times you played the role in electing the government, but even they were sent packing.”

Sharif, however, did not specify that apart from his three terms in power, which other term he was referring to.

“The reason behind the country's decline is that here Constitution is never held supreme and oaths are never honoured … even the people’s opinions are kept hostage.”

He said that if Pakistan wants to move towards prosperity, then lessons need to be learnt from the past. “If we are to bring back the glory days of the country, we need to give people the right to enfranchise.”

He said, “The Imran Khan government has brought humiliation to the country.”

He said that across the border, he is termed as a puppet and in America, he is equated with the mayor of Islamabad. “With the promise of a new Pakistan, Imran has ruined even the old Pakistan.” He said that Imran has even taken a U-turn on his promise of committing suicide, which he vowed to do if he was to ever to reach out to the IMF for loan.

Regarding Khawaja Muhammad Raffique, he said Raffique struggled for democracy throughout his life. “Raffique stood for the underprivileged class. He was a public spirited, righteous leader. His death has left a vacuum that can never be filled.”

Khawaja Asif while addressing the participants said that the kind of politicking done in the last three years was unheard of in the history of the country. “The PTI has vitiated the political culture of the country. Politics has now become a cursed word.”

He said that this government was surviving on phone calls. “If these calls had not come before the joint session, the bucket of the incumbent government would have been kicked.”

During the ceremony, a resolution was adopted, condemning the annexation of Kashmir and change in its demography, the government’s inability for not doing anything for the people of Kashmir and demanding resignation from the concerned authorities, including the PM.

Another resolution was adopted condemning the rolling back of CPEC projects, slowing down the pace of development work and demanding of the government to end any misgiving with the Chinese government.