LAHORE:
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will “expose the traitors cum politicians” who are switching from one party to another on the instructions of the establishment, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the Nawaz Sharif Interchange of the Ring Road Package-15 at Bedian, PML-N leaders lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as a party of the establishment, though without naming it.
The chief minister said that allies of General (retired) Pervez Musharraf who supported the Lal Masjid siege, the sacking of the Supreme Court chief justice and drone strikes in Pakistan were now posing as revolutionaries by joining new parties. “The PML-N will expose their faces in front of the people of Pakistan,” he said.
Sharif thanked PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, who had spoken before him, for raising the slogan of ‘Go Zardari go’, saying he had been criticised by some party leaders when he had shouted the slogan at a rally in Lahore last month. He said that President Asif Zardari should resign in the interest of Pakistan.
He said that Nawaz Sharif had steadfastly resisted American pressure not to test Pakistan’s nuclear bomb back in 1998, even President Bill Clinton’s offer of US$5 billion (Rs446 billion) in aid.
He said that the previous government had embezzled billions of rupees from the Ring Road project, while his government had completed the northern section in just two years. He said that Rs120 million had been allocated for a sewerage system in localities in the Bedian Road area.
Some 5,000 people, most of them from nearby slums and villages, gathered at the site under the leadership of various MPAs to hear the chief minister’s address. They were kept entertained by a horse dance, as well as a chained tiger and a caged lion. A large number of children also roamed the venue holding images of Shahbaz Sharif, though many of them did not know who he was.
MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique said in his address that the PML-N had made mistakes, but they were not traitors. “We are not giving the people of Pakistan false hope,” he said, adding the party would try to persuade “our brother” Javed Hashmi to return to the PML-N. He said that the PML-N was not afraid of confronting “products of the establishment”.
He said that the PTI had made various unfounded allegations against the PML-N, but the PML-N would not do so against the PTI.
The Ring Road Package 15 cost around Rs2.173 billion. The interchange connects Bedian Road, Lidhar, Chachowali, Leel, Charrar Motha Singh, Bakhsheeshpura, Bhatta Chowk, DHA Phases 5 and 9 and Askari 9.
Slaughterhouse
Earlier on Sunday, the chief minister inaugurated a slaughter house at Shahpur Kanjran. The modern abattoir was developed in collaboration with an Iranian firm in 10 months at a cost of around Rs1 billion. Officials of the Iranian consulate and the livestock and health secretaries were also present on the occasion.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sharif said the Lahore Meat Complex was a big step forward for Pakistan’s exports. He said that Muslim countries import billions of dollars worth of meat each year, but very little from Pakistan. Iran, he said, imports $800 million (Rs71.3 billion) worth each year. He said the Punjab government had signed a deal with Iran for meat export worth $160 million (Rs14.3 billion).
He announced a bonus of one month’s pay to staff of the slaughter house for completing the project in just 10 months.
Bus Rapid Transit System
The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for the First Bus Rapid Transit System on Ferozepur Road. In the first phase of the project, 27 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes will be built from Gajju Mata to Shahdara.
He said that 15 kilometres of bus lanes will be built under the project by March. A Turkish firm is helping the government develop a modern bus transport system, he said. The Punjab government has also signed an agreement with a Turkish company in the solid waste management sector.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS (25)
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We love you IK and @ ch Allahdad Keep dreaming there time is over its people like you whom are blind and cant see that change is inevatable in our country otherwise we are getting closer to collapse so please stop misleading the nation anymore !! and mian saa un jaan deo jaa ke apni empire aur barao awam ke eson se jo luta hai !!!
Mr sharif. Let's think for a change, let the wine be changed with Rooh Afza. No wonder Tehrik insaf is a soul refreshening party and has given a very pleasant taste in our such foul and stinky political atmosphere. Let the wine be for Muslim leagues and allotter political parties. Thanks.
PML started by ISI and finished by ISI. They deserve what they get
Imran khan for 15 years got blasted for not knowing how politics works!!!!
"yaar us ko politics nahin aat1...aadmi acha hai lekin" thats all I heard.
Now the guy finally makes moves like a politician so he can get elected legally and make a change... now he is being blasted for being a politician.????
its a no win argument. So who cares what ppl say. Tsunami doesnt change its path ..people and the world change to accomodate the tsunamis!!!
Keep it up Imran we are with you..... we know that you are a true patriot!!!!
PMLN = Old Wine + Old Bottle, So Change = NULL, Hence Failed
It is a very poor remark' by a rich and responsible person.Hope and wish good output in future by the Punjab CM.
And you are just old and bitter...
If PTI is old wine, etc..
Then PMLN is contaminated water pretending to be wine
Probably the only thing Sharif jr has ever said
It seems the title given by Tribune of the articles actually favors PTI whether Shahbaz said it or not. It is well known fact that older wine is a more mature, cultured and preferred drink for people who consume alcohol. So if the 'old wine' is moving to 'new party' it is good for the strength of PTI. @Blithe, well we have to live with these people; the country was made for these feudals and tribals hence they rule in the name of PPP, PML, ANP etc. The only saving grace with PTI is that their head is not one of them, though it has to be seen what happens to him once he will 'start smelling' the power!
I think Mr Shahbaz forgot that old wine is precious irrespective of container and it is new wine that are not eagerly sought after. By his saying we can confidently assume that Mr Khan have very precious stock to sell, whereas Mr Shahbaz is selling an new wine in old container.
Good to see nervousness of jr Mian sb. If PTI is old wine then he forget that they hav ruled punjab for almost 2 decades... and what looks note worthy is not for punjab but considered only lahore and much concentrate on raiwend.
It should be PML-N perfromance in Lahore is note worthy...
i agree with @Ch Allah ... We need Shahbaz in Punjab for 5 more years in an administrative role (if not CM)... he has contribed a huge amount towards laying out a good infrastructure for Punjab ... i wish the other provinces borrow him to do the same ..
He should try to be more original. That metaphor is already getting old and my saying that isn't subtly triggered by agreement/disagreement. The metaphor is dying a long and painful death and everyone is being cruelly being forced to watch.
PML-N performance in punjab is note worthy
Breathtaking hypocrisy. Only in Pakistan would the public allow a product of the establisment to rail against the products of the establishment.
We should support all projects that benefit Pakistan, regardless of which political party does the work. We must not let accountability for past mistakes stand in the way of development. PUNISHMENT of Pakitan's wealth should be FORGIVEN if the wealth is returned.
The mere fact that everyone is issuing statements against PTI and Imran are the signs of nervousness and cold feet. If PTI is an old wine in new bottle, what about all the old wine we have been forced to drink twice or even thrice?
today was a testament that the ideology of PTI has failed. They are now depending on landlord cum pirs to gets seats; and oligarchs/ cartel runners to fund them .
Doctrine of necessity has forced PTI to accept all the rot from Q League and PPP
Nikka Mian is a fighter and a true leader. Sometime he looses his temper but we need him as CM for another term to complete these projects and for next Dengue attack.
The PTI is the party of the establishment? They are the old wine in new bottles?
Nawaz Sharif was the most useless politician the country has seen. Can he tell me honestly if his brother is telling the truth when he claims that if he remained in power Pakistan would have been a tiger economy liek Malaysia and Turkey.
Can you tell me how rich Nawaz Sharif and clan were prior to the patronage of General Zia and how rich they were when he died? The oldest wine of all, and the one that has been sampled and been found a complete failure is Nawaz.
When Nawaz was deposed what state was the economy in? How was law and order? Foreign reserves? Most people expressed collective relief that he had been deposed. He now claims that he is responsible for making the country a nuclear power. Did he design the bomb, enrich the uranium. The entire thing was run by the army, the establishment he is trying to expose!
The title of this article '...PTI is old wine in new bottle: Shahbaz Sharif'', is misleading since nowhere in the article is Shahbaz Sharif quoted verbatim.
PML-N is part of the old crony establishment. Face it Mr. Nawaz your time is over. Time for a new generation to fix the country. PTI will destroy all corrupt forces in pakistan.
I thought they had delegated the task of PTI bashing to Rana Sanaullah...but now Shahbaz Sharif himself is taking up the task?...I guess fear can get the best of us
On a side note, I do appreciate infrastructure development efforts of CM Punjab. Hopefully these projects have a longer life as compared to other efforts we have seen where govt. is excited to kick-off the project in pursuit of glamour but not committed in maintaining it afterwards...