PTI severely damaged country: PM

ISLAMABAD/ KASUR/LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday said the previous government of PTI had inflicted severe damage to the country.

He said that Imran Niazi was imposed on the country after rigged election in 2018 and his regime caused severe damage to relations with these countries including Islamic countries and he resorted to baseless allegations of corruption against companies of China.

Shehbaz Sharif said unfortunately terrorists were again allowed to re-enter Pakistan and they took many innocent lives in terrorist acts.

The premier said that Nawaz Sharif would be the next prime minister of Pakistan and would change destiny of the country by initiating projects in the sectors of agriculture, industry and infrastructure.

He was speaking at a public meeting here after laying foundation stone for Taray Garh interchange on the Lahore-Bahawalnagar Motorway and Rai Mansab Ali Khan interchange on Abdul Hakim Motorway on the Bucheki-Nankana road.

“Nawaz Sharif will serve the people of Pakistan as prime minister for another term if voted to power. He considers the whole of Pakistan as his family and in the past selflessly served the people,” he remarked. He said Rs263 billion would be spent on the construction of motorway from Lahore to Bahawalnagar and on other projects.

He said their government provided laptops worth billions of rupees to millions of students, adding he was unfairly criticised for delivering laptops to youth who were now using modern tools of communication and earning livelihoods.

Nawaz Sharif also started Zarb-e-Azab led by Pakistan army to eradicate terrorism and the jawans of armed forces and people from all sections of society rendered sacrifices against terrorism.

In the era of Nawaz Sharif, the PM said Pakistan had good relations with friendly and brotherly countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and others.

Ties with China were broken by the former government of Imran Niazi despite the fact that the neighbouring country massively invested in infrastructure, power and road projects, he pointed out.

The prime minister said former judge Saqib Nisar and other co-conspirators ousted Nawaz Sharif on the basis of residence permit even when his name was not among the 400 persons named in the Panama papers.

Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz appeared before the court 100 times in their cases and did not evade arrests as was later done by Imran Niazi who presented a fake receipt for an expensive watch imprinted with a model of Khana-e-Kaaba and came in court with a “bucket on his head”, he added. He said those who filed false and concocted cases against opposition leaders now met divine justice.

He said in the tenure of Imran Niazi, several cases of corruption surfaced including wheat and sugar scams in which money was minted by unnecessary export and import of these commodities and then these acts of fraud were never probed and citizens bore the burden of loot and plunder. He said his government faced unprecedented challenges of inflation and devastating floods. “My government distributed Rs100 billion among the flood-affected people and several hundreds of billions are still required for their rehabilitation.”

He said reasons of current inflation were war in Ukraine and rising international commodity and fuel prices, adding due to the mismanagement of the past government, his government had to sign agreement with IMF despite its tough conditions.

Saudi Arabia gave $2 billion, UAE $1 billion and China rescheduled loans of $5 billion so that Pakistan could meet the financing needs for finalizing the IMF agreement, he informed.

He said as chief minister he served the people of Punjab with sincerity, undertook massive projects in health and education sectors, built road network in the province and gave free medicine to people.

He vowed that their next government would bring revolution in the agriculture sector, extract minerals worth billions of dollars and equip youth with latest tools of information technology. The youth programme would be implemented at the federal and provincial levels and more laptops would be given to the students on merit.

He lamented that billions of rupees were wasted on unnecessary court cases instead of a focus on mineral extraction in the provinces.

He told that the National Assembly would be dissolved on August 9 and a caretaker government would be formed.

He prayed for the departed souls who lost their lives in the train accident during the day and after sinking of a boat in Head Sulemanki.

Earlier, the prime minister was given detailed briefing on the new infrastructure projects. Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman and legislators of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz accompanied the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited Kasur and laid the foundation stone of Kasur to Bahawalnagar Motorway (a part of Rs263 billion projects) and while addressing a large public meeting, he said that the fatigue of 16 months after seeing the sea of people in Khadian Khas/Kasur has been relieved.

He condoled for the railway accident on Pind Addan (Sindh), and prayed may Allah grant them a place in heaven and also pray for those who drowned in Head Solimanki.

He offered public the greetings of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. The PM further said that the architect of the motorway project is Nawaz Sharif who laid a net on the roads and Nawaz Sharif eliminated terrorism from the country. “I have come here to present his record of service done to Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif will come to Pakistan soon, the destiny of the country will change. There was a load shedding crisis in the country from 2013 to 2018. Nawaz Sharif ended the darkness. Nawaz Sharif is the one who laid the foundation of Duso Dam and Bhasha Dam. Nawaz Sharif’s services never ended. He said the nuclear programme started from Zulfikar Bhutto’s era and Nawaz Sharif reached the extreme. He turned down $5 billion in comparison to nuclear explosions and exploded. Nawaz Sharif preferred the survival of Pakistan to $5 billion, PM added.

Shehbaz Sharif said, “While in the era of Imran Niazi, there was a wheat scandal and a sugar scandal, corruption of billions was done. Inquiries were made into the wheat and sugar scandals, but nothing was done. I did not know that the situation was so bad. In very difficult circumstances, he was given responsibility and could not serve much. His govt distributed Rs100 billion to the flood affected families. This year, record production of wheat has been achieved, now, God willing, record production of cotton has been achieved.”

He said that the country had to go to the IMF as it was defaulting, it was saved and God willing, if the country had defaulted, there would have been no flour, no dollar would have come into the country, people would have been rendered unemployed.

“I could not sleep at night because the people would not have forgiven if the country defaulted. There are many reasons for the increase in inflation in the country, what to do, the situation is difficult. DHQ Hospital has provided advanced facilities in Kasur, machinery, CT scan and other facilities.”

Shahbaz Sharif did not make any announcement for Kasur and apparently no aid of any kind has been announced for the flood victims of Kasur.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that all those who were tasked with the onus to serve humanity, should strive for the provision of free-of-cost health and education facilities to the poor and deprived segments of society.

The prime minister was addressing a conference arranged here to create awareness about the elimination of Hepatitis-C in the country arranged at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).

Addressing the participants, the prime minister said it was their collective responsibility to serve the poor and deprived masses by setting up health facilities like the PKLI in line with the vision of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation, and in accordance with the concept of the welfare state.

The event was attended by Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman, ministers, experts and relevant authorities.

The prime minister termed the event a historic and said that he always desired to see PKLI working on the pattern of Johns Hopkins of the USA. He said the PKLI journey started in 2014, when he requested Dr Saeed Akhtar to set up a state-of-the-art institute for the kidney and liver diseases in Punjab province.

The prime minister said that the institute was established with an autonomous body to rid it of any official red tape. The project was launched in 2015 and was completed in 2018 when the first kidney transplant was performed, he recollected. The prime minister said that till this day, a total of 1000 transplants had been performed at PKLI which was another milestone.

The PKLI had now Rs15 billion in the trust fund which would help in providing free treatment to the poor people, he added. He observed that previously, they used to send liver disease patients to other neighbouring countries. PKLI was established in the country which entertained patients irrespective of class and without discrimination, he said, adding it was also an essence for the creation of Pakistan for which Quaid and a large number of people gave huge sacrifices.

He regretted that the poor people in the country suffered while the rich had all the resources to get treatment for themselves at the best facilities in the world. The prime minister said during 2018, about 26 Hepatitis C filter clinics were established in the province under the umbrella of PKLI where patients were treated with great care and with free medicines.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday appreciated the landscaping work of Lahore Development Authority (LDA), under the supervision of Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).

On his Twitter handle, the prime minister shared his thoughts along with a combo of pictures of the entrance of PKLI. “A breathtaking view of the landscape adorning the entrance to the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI). Public places, especially hospitals, should wear a friendly look,” he posted in a tweet. The prime minister also commended DG LDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa and the Punjab CM.