All wars fought during martial law eras: Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday democracy could deliver and it should be respected and allowed to work by all the state institutions for the progress and prosperity of the country.
“All the wars have been fought during the martial laws while none of the wars has been fought during the democratic governments. The country achieved progress during the democratic set-ups. Nuclear power and economic turnaround were also made during democracy,” said Nawaz while addressing the launch of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service here.
He lauded the sacrifices rendered by the soldiers while fighting terrorists and said the incidents of kidnappings for ransom and extortion had almost come to an end in Karachi.He said out of frustration, terrorists occasionally carried out subversive activities and mentioned the killing of innocent passengers in Mastung.
He said the government, the political leadership and all otherinstitutions had resolved to eliminate terrorists from the soil. The government, he said, was actively working on all fronts.
Nawaz said the ongoing development activities in the country were unacceptable to the enemy and reiterated his government’s resolve against terrorism and energy crisis to turn around the national economy.
“We should unite to foil the nefarious designs of the enemy... We have launched a decisive operation against terrorism. Inshallah, both terrorism and terrorists will be eliminated,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervaiz Khattak, CM Balochistan Abdul Malik Baloch, Governor Punjab Rafiq Rajwana, Governor KP Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai, federal cabinet members and leaders of different political parties.
Nawaz said the timely completion of 23-kilometer Metro Bus Service project was appreciable, as in the past development projects had been lingering on for decades, which increased their cost manifold.
“This is a new Pakistan. This is a ray of a new dawn,” the prime minister remarked commenting on the sentiments of a resident, who felt the project was not in Pakistan, rather in some developed country.
He congratulated the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the launch of the service and said the visitors to the twin cities would also be enjoying a ride on the modern transport service.
The project would facilitate around 150,000 passengers of twin cities and initially 68 buses would ply. Twenty-four bus stations have been built across the 23-km track that comprises 8.6 km elevated portion in Rawalpindi. Each bus will have the capacity to carry 150 passengers and would complete its route within 50 minutes.
He said both male and female students earlier reached their destinations through an inefficient transport service. “They will now have a secure and peaceful travel experience while enjoying the comfort of air-conditioners and heaters, besides free Internet facility at the stations and buses.”
Nawaz Sharif said some parents earlier discontinued the education of their children due to travel hardships. “They would have a second thought now, as their children would now travel respectably at a nominal fare.”
He congratulated Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif over the completion of the project within a short duration, adding that no one could challenge the transparency and quality of the project.The prime minister said the government would ensure that public resources should be used with honesty and only for the public welfare.
He said the federal government would also introduce the Green Line Metro Bus Service in Karachi and also offered to develop such a facility in Peshawar and Balochistan.He said mega projects had already been launched throughout the country and the Metro Bus project was only a part of it.
He reiterated that the government would rid the country of power crisis within the next three years of its tenure and the power cost would also be reduced. “The government has reduced the power rate by Rs5.5 per unit and will reduce it further in future,” he added.
Nawaz said work on the Khunjerab-Gwadar Motorway had been launched and thanked the national political leadership for forging unity on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as they had exhibited for the anti-terror operation Zarb-e-Azb and approval of the National Action Plan.
He said the country would soon have a motorway link from Peshawar to Karachi and work on the Hazara Motorway has already been started.The prime minister said the government had allocated Rs30 billion for the western route of the CPEC as was agreed with the political leadership.
He said power shortages had been reduced to around 4,500 megawatt. He said during the next three years, the country’s power needs would swell to 7,500 MWs while the power projects initiated by the government would produce around 10,500 MWs.
He also announced Rs50 million cash award for the workers who worked tirelessly on the Metro Bus project. Commenting on the KP local bodies elections, Nawaz said different incidents which happened during the LB elections claimed the lives of at least 18 people. He said this number of people had never died in the general elections.
“Is this the new Pakistan that the PTI had promised? The PTI government is playing with the lives of people,” he added.He further said the PTI had accused the PML-N of rigging the general elections 2013 and now the party itself went ahead and rigged the LB polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This is retribution for blaming us for rigging.”