7 years of destruction can’t be rectified in two years: Shehbaz

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif made it clear on Wednesday that the devastation wreaked in the last seven years could not be rectified in one or two years. However, he promised, the PMLN, if elected to power, would work hard day and night to improve the economic condition in the shortest possible time.

Talking to senior journalists at the party office here, he said the PMLN would accept the decision of the people on February 8, 2024. He refused to give any date for complete economic revival of the country, saying he had made a mistake in the past when he had announced that the PMLN would end load-shedding in six months.

He said the challenges for the upcoming government would be bigger than the Himalaya, which would require great vision and hard work to overcome them. “Electricity is expensive, line losses should end, corruption should end but we will fight for solar energy,” Shehbaz said while unveiling his party’s future plans. Solar energy would be our main focus, he added.

Shehbaz said if the PMLN would get the government, its first, second and third focus would be youth. He said Nawaz Sharif would present the complete manifesto of the PMLN in the next few days. He alleged that former chief justice Saqib Nisar overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government in 2017, and the country was facing consequences of his act till date.

About the withdrawal of ‘Bat’ electoral symbol from PTI, he said the party failed to convince the court and the whole nation watched the 13-hour-long court proceedings live on their televisions. He said neither the PMLN nor Mian Nawaz Sharif could be held responsible for it. “We did not snatch their symbol; they lost it before the court.”

About giving the party tickets to electables, Shehbaz said it was part of politics and the PMLN did seat adjustment with some parties. About the next chief minister Punjab, he said the party Quaid [Nawaz Sharif] would decide about it, in consultation with the party leadership.

Shehbaz rejected the charges that the PMLN and Nawaz Sharif were using shoulders of the establishment to return to power.

Answering a question about the price-hike witnessed in the 16 months when he was the prime minister, Shehbaz said inflation was three and a half per cent during the Nawaz Sharif era. In the last four years, the prices of sugar, flour and other essential items went up due to mismanagement of the PTI government.

Earlier, while addressing the meeting, the former prime minister, accompanied by PMLN leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb and Azma Bukhari, said Nawaz Sharif, after coming to power, would reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, and make the poor prosperous. “It is important that we end hatred for the sake of the country and work hard together to restore development and improve economy,” he said.