Former premier Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for collective efforts to deal with the issues plaguing Karachi as he said the upcoming elections would determine the fate of the port city.
The PML-N president arrived in Karachi a day earlier to meet with MQM-P leaders to finalise the electoral alliance between the two parties. Last month, the PML-N and MQM-P reached an agreement to jointly participate in the next elections with the former saying that the alliance would benefit the entire country.
Addressing the media on Friday alongside leaders of the MQM-P, Shehbaz highlighted the collective achievements of both the parties.
He added that he found the MQM-P leaders very "enthusiastic".
The PML-N president said the upcoming elections would have to prove if the political leadership of the country could resolve the issues with mutual consultation.
Shehbaz also questioned if PML-N supremo and his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, was the ladla (blue-eyed), as he was someone who was arrested and stripped of his premiership.
Taking a dig at PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, he maintained that the ladla was the one who was greeted with “good to see you” in the apex court.
He was referring to former top judge Umar Ata Bandial welcoming Imran to the court in May this year by saying “good to see you”.
Referring to the Karachi, he said untiring as well as collective efforts were needed for the port city to acquire its due share and maintained that the fate of the metropolis would change after the elections.
"No single person can bring about these changes alone,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that last week Shehbaz submitted his nomination papers from Karachi’s constituency NA-242 (Baldia) – the same seat he had contested in the 2018 elections. Back then, he lost to then PTI leader Faisal Vawda in NA-249, which has now become NA-242 as per the new sequence of constituencies based on the fresh delimitation.
Speaking to the media earlier in the day, Shehbaz pledged to develop Karachi's infrastructure, bring an end to the water tanker mafia in the city and empower its youngsters with technical skills to step up the country’s uplift.
He also lauded the residents of Karachi for making it the highest tax-paying city in Pakistan. Referring to Nawaz’s earlier tenure in power, he regretted that the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway would have been completed by now if his elder brother had not been ousted from power.
The PML-N president further expressed his party's intent for a strong election campaign in Karachi and the rest of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"Public transport is the backbone of a country's uplift and the PML-N will bring it to Karachi as best as we can," he promised.
Lastly, he emphasised that the PML-N would work collectively with all stakeholders to improve the conditions in the port city.
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