Taking potshot: Nawaz offers his version of ‘Naya Pakistan’

PML-N chief says people will reject ‘khiladis and shikaris’ on May 11.

ISLAMABAD: Hitting out at his political  rivals in veiled words, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif said people will reject ‘khiladis’ (players) and ‘shikaris’ (hunters) on May 11 as elections are not a sport.

“Don’t take May 11 as a mere game. Take it seriously and decide who has a better team, which can deliver,” the PML-N chief said while addressing a gathering in Abpara, in Islamabad, on Sunday.

During his speech, Nawaz also seemed to borrow terms from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s election campaign.

“There would be a Naya Pakistan,” he said, asking people to vote for his party. “There won’t just be a change, there will be a revolution.”



His appeal for gaining votes, however, was swiftly followed by a clarification. “I am not asking you to vote for PML-N for my own sake but for the sake of Pakistan.”

“I am here to talk sense, not to speak like those who ignore the basic etiquettes of addressing rallies,” he said, as he continued taking hidden jabs at Imran Khan.

During the speech, Nawaz also recalled the work his government carried out in Punjab over the past five years.

He said the province not only out-performed other provincial governments but the federal government as well.

There were no allegations of corruption levelled against us, he said.

He also elaborated upon the issues he tackled during his two stints in power.

We carried out six nuclear tests in response to India’s, he said.

“I was punished with seven-years of exile for making the country a nuclear power.”

Nawaz also expressed his resolve to steer the country out of its present crises.

“I want to bring Pakistan to that stature again and for that to happen, you have to vote in favour of PML-N,” he said.

“We have struggled for the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law,” Nawaz said, referring to the 2009 long march for the reinstatement of judges sacked by former president General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf.

He pointed out problems the country faces in the domestic sphere.

“Pakistan needs a strong government and cannot afford a coalition,” he said.

After the success of his metro-bus project in Lahore, Nawaz unveiled a unique plan to boost the transport system in the country.

“There would be a bullet train from Peshawar to Karachi which will cover distance in seven hours,” he said.

He pledged to revamp PIA into the best airline in the world.

People’s perspective

At the rally in Aapara Chock, support for PML-N superseded formal party affiliations.

People at the rally said, more than anything, it was the basic civic issues that compelled them to vote for the party.

“I am not a PML-N worker, but I think Nawaz is the only leader who can provide relief to the people”, said 23-year-old Saleem Khan from Attock district.

For the past five years, Pakistan Peoples Party gave us inflation, unemployment, lawlessness and injustice, Saleem said.

“Nawaz Sharif seems to be the person who could resolve these issues.”

People also backed PML-N for the projects it introduced in Punjab.

Schemes like Susti-Roti, the construction of motorway and metro-bus project in Lahore are examples of the work the party has done for the people, said a resident from Batagram Liaqat Shah.

“Nawaz Sharif is the last resort to give justice to the people of Pakistan,” he said.

When asked that others have promised to do the same, he said PTI was too young a party to work effectively.

“Imran Khan is an inexperienced politician and he would be given a chance to serve the country after five years – if Nawaz Sharif fails,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2013.