Shehbaz backs Nawaz as PM for fourth time

FAISALABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif would become the prime minister of the country for the fourth time if the party won the coming general elections.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Faisalabad-Satyana Interchange in Faisalabad, Shehbaz said that former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar led a coterie of conspirators against the PML-N supremo.

“If the people give mandate to the PML-N in the next general elections, Nawaz Sharif will be the prime minister and under his guidance, I will work as an ordinary worker,” the prime minister told the ceremony.

“If the people decided to bring Nawaz Sharif to power in the upcoming elections, within a decade, he (Nawaz) will transform the country to compete with India on the economic fronts,” he added.

Such an achievement, the prime minister said, would not be possible through witchcraft but by hard work, sincerity, and devotion. He credited Nawaz for initiating the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He said that Pakistan continued on the path to progress during the previous 2013-18 tenure of the PML-N government but through a conspiracy, Nawaz was disqualified in an Iqama case.

Shehbaz alleged that former chief justice Nisar was heading the coterie that conspired against Nawaz, who, he added, was implicated in the Panama Papers case despite not being named in the scandal.

The prime minister called on the masses to support the PML-N in the upcoming elections as “revenge” for the “theft of their mandate” during the 2018 elections, which led to the formation of an ineffective government.

“You, the people, have to avenge the rigging of 2018 elections, by the power of your mandate during the upcoming general elections, by defeating the political masquerades of the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf),” he said.

During the 2018 rigged polls, the prime minister said, Imran Khan and his clique was brought to power but the people of Faisalabad would defeat them in the general elections by massively supporting the PML-N candidates.

“Imran Niazi was made the prime minister through Jhurloo [rigged elections], with malfunctioning of RTS (Results Transmission System) and the PML-N was deprived of its seats,” he added.

He said that during the PTI’s four-year rule, not a single brick was laid on the projects initiated by the PML-N government, rather a barrage of baseless and awkward allegations were levelled against the opposition leadership.

Stressing that Imran levelled unfounded allegations against the opposition, the prime minister posted a question: “Where are those $300 billion, they claimed were parked abroad!”

Shehbaz recalled that the PTI chief had said that he would prefer death over approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead, he approached the IMF and then broke the deal and transferred the burden onto the next government.

The prime minister sought to explain that the government had to increase the electricity tariffs under compulsion in order to fulfil the IMF conditions. However, he added the increase would not apply to those who were using less than 200 units.

Shehbaz also highlighted the incumbent coalition government’s achievements. He said that the ruling coalition steered the country out of default, adding that besides, Rs100 billion was distributed after the last year’s devastating floods.

He regretted that £190 million fraud and proceeds from Toshakhana watch sale should have been deposited in the national exchequer, instead of the pockets of the PTI leadership.

He also said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman “is our ally”, and that the PML-N had a natural relationship with the JUI (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam). Communications Minister Maulana Asad Mahmood and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah were also present.

(With input from APP)