LAHORE: PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the upcoming general elections could not be considered free and fair if a party was singled-out, victimised and defiled, as providing a level-playing field for all political parties was essential for the ECP’s credibility.
He wondered what kind of free and transparent the upcoming elections would be when the PML-N leaders were kept busy in appearing before courts.
Speaking at a PML-N workers convention in Sahiwal, where a large number of people had gathered to welcome the party president, he said it was a responsibility of the ECP to ensure absolutely free and fair elections that were transparent at every level, which was crucial for the future of democracy and supremacy of the people’s verdict.
He was received by a charged crowd that showered flower petals and chanted spirited slogans.
The PML-N president promised to build a university and a Danish School in Sahiwal and would provide health cards to the people of the Sahiwal that would ensure provision quality healthcare to them.
Shahbaz said the PML-N, under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, built projects that provided 11,000 megawatts of electricity to the country at the time of crisis in a limited period of just five years.
“Every time I’ve come to Sahiwal, I have brought in mega projects to serve the people of this area and have proven my ability to implement these projects most efficiently. Today I’m here to request you for your vote, not for the lust of power, but to build further on how I have serve the people of Sahiwal”, said Shahbaz.
He said the objective of PML-N was serving people the proof of which was the Sahiwal Coal Power Plant providing not only electricity but also creating jobs for the local population.
He asked the gathering if there had been any difference in the hours-long power outages of the past and the current power supply situation, to which the charged crowd acknowledged that there had been a massive positive difference.
Shahbaz bashed Asif Ali Zardari and said his slogan of ‘Mersun Mersun, Sindh Na De Sun’ (Would prefer death of giving Sindh up) should actually be ‘Mersun Mersun, Kam Na Kersun’ (death before doing anything for the people). “The people of Pakistan are smart enough to see through these hollow slogans and they recognise public service and national development, which only the PML-N has delivered,” he said.
Taking on PTI chief Imran Khan, he said Mr Niazi didn’t even understand the importance of electricity generation in a country and that’s why he had not added a single megawatt of electricity in the province ruled by his party. He added that the PTI chief lied blatantly about adding electricity to the national grid.
He said Mr Niazi was a pathological liar who had only one skill which was levelling baseless allegations and misleading the people through lies. “Mr Niazi levels grave allegation and then fails to produce the proof, every single time. He alleged corruption in the Lahore Metro Bus project, alleged hush money being offered by me and ever since I’ve taken him up on his false accusations, he has been running away from me like a coward and has not appeared before the court of law even once,” said Shahbaz.
He taunted that when the people of Peshawar were dying of dengue fever, Imran deserted them and eloped to the hills on vacation, but he jumped on the opportunity for political point-scoring over the problems faced by the people in Lahore amid extraordinary torrential rains.
Bashing the performance of PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said the PML-N not only built hospitals but also provided state-of-the-art equipment including CT scan machines, free medication and high -quality healthcare to the people of Pakistan, while the PTI failed to build a single hospital in the province.
“While Punjab’s educational development was lauded by international institutions and agencies, Imran could not build a single university in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, yet he has the audacity of criticising the performance of PML-N.”
“After describing the Metro Bus project as ‘Jangla Buss and its cost, the PTI chief has conveniently turned a blind eye to the Peshawar Metro project which has been a disaster and reached a cost of Rs 60 billion so far, while it is far from completion,” said the PML-N president.
Shahbaz said water scarcity was a major problem and India had been blocking Pakistan’s water, which made it unavoidable to build dams like Bhasha. “Such mega projects can only be carried out successfully by the PML-N as we have proven ourselves capable of successfully building mega projects,” he said.
“I shall build the Bhasha Dam. That is my promise to the people of Pakistan and that of Sahiwal”, he pledged and said if given a chance in the 2018 elections, he would bring Pakistan in the league of rapidly-developing countries like Turkey and Malaysia.
