Bullying just can’t scare me, says Nawaz

Who do those seeking my resignation think they are?;
they demand what is too big for them; they don’t know who they’re dealing with; masses elected us and only they will send us home; international airport for Bannu announced

BANNU: Digging his heels in, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said his party had come to power through the power of the ballot and nobody other than the masses could send them home.

Addressing a public meeting at the Bannu Sports Complex, Nawaz said he would not let the opponents’ threats, intimidation and bullying scare him, adding that those seeking his resignation were living in a fool’s paradise.

“Who do they think they are? They don’t know who they are dealing with. They demand what is too big for them,” said a defiant Nawaz.He said those chanting slogans of making a ‘Naya Pakistan’ could not even bring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at par with the other provinces in terms of development.

He said the main objective of his frequent visits to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was to check the development projects that the PTI-led government was claiming to have accomplished.He lamented that the tall claims of the PTI were mere slogans that had vanished into thin air as soon as the party came to power.

“I wanted to see a glimpse of the Naya KP but I witnessed only dilapidated roads and infrastructure in Bannu. Is this the Naya KP?” the prime minister asked the amused crowd.Among others, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Federal Minister for Housing and Construction Akram Khan Durrani, KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, former governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Pir Sabir Shah and Amir Muqam were also present on the occasion.

The prime minister visited Bannu on the invitation of Fazlur Rehman, who was elected an MNA from the adjoining Dera Ismail Khan district.“Now my turn to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a model province starts. I will not disappoint the people of KP. The PTI government miserably failed to serve the masses during its three-year rule.”

Nawaz announced that an airport of international standards would be established in Bannu and Rs200 million would be spent on development projects in the district. He also inaugurated several development projects, including four major highways and a university in the adjacent Lakki Marwat district.

Referring to the PanamaLeaks, Nawaz Sharif said he always sailed through a sea of allegations levelled against him and his party at different periods of time.Recalling the rigging allegations in the 2013 general election, he said the Supreme Court’s verdict terming the elections free and fair was a big slap in the face of his opponents.

He said the masses expressed confidence in him and his party in the 2013 general elections and gave them power to serve them. He reiterated his pledge to step down if corruption of even a single rupee was proved against him.

Nawaz maintained that Imran Khan had yet to accept his defeat in the 2013 polls and, therefore, he missed no opportunity to level new and baseless allegations against him.He stated his resolve to bring an end to loadshedding in the country by 2018.