Lofty aims: Our mandate has to be respected, says Shahbaz

CM accuses former governments of squandering funds in the name of public welfare.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the mandate given to his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government by the masses had to be respected.

Sharif was speaking to several delegations. He said the government would eradicate the energy shortage and terrorism and lead the country towards peace and prosperity. Sharif said the government was implementing policies to strengthen the economy. The chief minister said that a strategy had been adopted to bring foreign investment to the country.

He said foreigners had invested billions of dollars in the country. Sharif said the eradication of terrorism and the resolution of the power crisis were prerequisites to rapid national development. The chief minister said the government was diligently tackling both problems. He said that the efforts of the government would bear fruit and the country would overcome the twin challenges.

Sharif said that the PML-N was the founding party of the country and had been striving to make it peaceful and prosperous. The chief minister said infrastructural development played a pivotal role in promoting economic growth and international trade. He said that the government would continue to prioritise such project to lift the masses out of poverty. Sharif said the government had been setting exemplary records of public service since six years. The chief minister said billions of rupees had been spent on welfare programmes for the benefit of the public. He said that the Metro Bus Service, the Aashiana Housing Project, the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund and the Yellow Cab Scheme were representative of this trend. Sharif said 200,000 people had been using Metro buses daily. The chief minister said that after the success of the Metro Bus Project in Lahore, the concept was being introduced in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. He said that the project would be completed in record time.  Sharif said the government had been planning to launch the Orange Line Metro Train Project in Lahore. The chief minister said that the project would revolutionise public transport.

He said the erstwhile rulers of the province had only squandered public money in the name of development schemes “under the benevolent gaze of a dictator”. The chief minister said they were also guilty of flouting merit with scant regard for the welfare of the masses. Sharif said certain elements were conspiring to derail the nation’s march towards progress and prosperity by promoting the politics of protest and confrontation.  He said others were trying to jeopardise national development in the name of revolutions and long marches. The chief minister said their efforts would prove futile as Pakistan would emerge as an inclusive and welfare state under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sharif instructed Punjab Information Technology Board officials on Tuesday to formulate recommendations for the promotion of electronic governance. He instructed officials to fashion a plan to promote electronic governance urgently. He said it would increase the efficiency of public institutions and benefit the masses.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2014.