Tackling challenges: Nawaz takes a jibe at PTI – without naming it

Says Pakistan’s problems cannot be solved in ‘90 days’; promises ‘change’ if PML-N is voted to power in next election.

SWAT:

Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), though without naming it, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that Pakistan is mired in a myriad of problems which cannot be solved in “90 days”.

“You need to have proper policies, and a proper direction [to steer the country out of these crises],” Nawaz told a cheering crowd after laying the foundation stone of a 116-bed kidney hospital in the Sangota area of Swat on Wednesday.

“If we are voted to power [in the next elections], I assure you the nation will see from the very first day that we are in the right direction,” he added.  “The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) does not believe in politics of hypocrisy, we believe in serving the people.”

Though Nawaz did not name anyone, he was believed to be referring to PTI Chairman Imran Khan who has said that if voted to power his party would rid the country of corruption within 90 days.

The PML-N chief also hit out at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition government for plunging the country into an array of crises.

“Due to their wrong policies, Karachi and Balochistan are suffering, inflation is rising and unemployment is rampant,” he added. “Today, Pakistan needs a change to tackle all the issues. And the PML-N has the expertise and knowhow required to take on the challenge.”

In this context, he referred to his previous two stints in power. He, however, lamented that “anti-state actors” did not allow him to complete its constitutional tenures both times. “In a short span, we constructed motorways for the first time in Pakistan. And if [we] win the next elections, the motorway will be extended to Swat,” he promised.

Nawaz’s 2nd government was toppled by former army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in Oct 1999. The Sharif family was subsequently exiled to Saudi Arabia purportedly under an agreement.

The PML-N chief regretted his 10 years in exile – and said that had his government been allowed to complete its term, today Pakistan would have been a lender and not a borrower.

Nawaz said he had a dream for Pakistan which remained unfulfilled. “We were planning to introduce a bullet train between Peshawar and Karachi,” he added.

About the kidney hospital, the PML-N chief said it was a gift to the people of Swat from the government and people of Punjab, where the poor will be treated free of cost. It will be the 2nd largest kidney hospital in Malakand Division, which will be completed within a year at the cost of Rs8.4 million.

Earlier, Senior Vice President of PML-N Engineer Amir Muqam welcomed Nawaz Sharif and thanked the Punjab government for the construction of the hospital. “I assure you all that the deprivations of the people of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will be addressed if our party is voted to power,” Muqam told the gathering.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2012.