When comparing the “poor and pathetic performance of corruption-tainted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government” to that of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif encouraged people on Saturday to consider facts.
The leader of the PML-N declared that his party would respect the results of the next elections. Shehbaz asserted that the “real image” of Pakistan might be restored if the PML-N, led by Nawaz Sharif, were given another chance to serve the country.
A 19-kilometer Lahore bypass, built at a cost of Rs35 billion, will connect Kala Shah Kaku with the Lahore-Karachi Motorway, and he was speaking at a ceremony following the launch of this and other development projects.
The estimated number of new jobs created by the project is 27,000.
The prime minister also started work on widening the main Ravi Bridge and the Saggian Road connecting Lahore and Karachi, which will reduce congestion, save money on petrol and create new jobs.
Later, he staged a soft launch for the building of a scout college and set cornerstones for the Esaan (Sharaqpur) Interchange on the Abdul Hakeem Motorway and the Quaid Azam University Campus.
Shehbaz termed PML-N supremo and three-time prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif “a builder of Pakistan, the man behind an end to loadshedding, the launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, and a builder of a vast network of roads, who put the country on the path of rapid progress.”
He claims that Nawaz’s ultimate goal is to make Pakistan “an Asian tiger.”
Shehbaz lamented that “a huge conspiracy hatched against Pakistan” in 2018 brought about the end of Nawaz’s leadership.
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Shehbaz claims that the country’s fate would have been different if the PML-N had been in power for the past four years instead of the PTI.
He said that Pakistan had made enormous strides from 2013 to 2018 under the PML-N government. However, he continued, “the country was pushed into chaos during the PTI government.”
Shehbaz claimed that during PTI administration, all opposition figures were imprisoned on trumped-up charges, bogus accusations of theft and corruption were made, and even sisters and daughters were thrown in jail.
Regrettably, “the development pace spurred by the PML-N government was halted,” he said.
The PML-N leader also cast doubt on the assertions that the former prime minister and current head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, will bring back $300 billion stored outside Pakistan within 90 days. Shehbaz claims that the PTI administration was unable to recoup any funds during its four years in office.
He mentioned a Rs50 billion recovery controversy, saying that the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) looked into it, and after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the other side, opted to return the sum to the government exchequer, but not the State Bank of Pakistan. Instead, according to Shehbaz, the matter was taken to the Supreme Court, where the Imran government was made a party.
He added that the cabinet was given an envelope with no indication of its contents and that no debate took place or the contents were revealed.
“It was a huge crime as to how the national exchequer was plundered,” he claimed, listing other key corruption instances of the PTI as the BRT Peshawar, Toshakhana, Malam Jabba, and sugar scams, etc.
According to Shehbaz, the UK criminal agency looked into bogus claims made against him by the PTI administration for two years before clearing him.
