LAHORE: Brushing aside the tall claims and repeated predictions by certain opposition leaders, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said the incumbent government was not only going to complete the five-year term but would also come into power again after the 2018 polls due to its development agenda.
Nawaz said two so-called leaders had been predicting the fall of the government and trying to launch a movement against it. “You could have come into power in 2013 but now your chances are over,” he remarked, addressing an opposition party without naming it. “People have rejected those talking about anti-government campaigns.”
The prime minister said a politician from Rawalpindi every now and then talks about March, June, and August. “We have completed three and a half years and will complete the remaining one year and a half by Almighty’s grace. And, by Allah’s grace, we would again be back in the government for the next five years,” the PM added.
“Prepare for the election, you will not even become an assembly member next time,” Nawaz remarked.“Three and a half years have passed. One-and-a half-year is remaining. It will be followed by elections and Allah will bestow us with power again,” the prime minister said, addressing a public gathering after performing the groundbreaking ceremony of Rs 24 billion Lahore Eastern Bypass at Kala Shah Kaku.
He said a wise political leader was the one who perceived the public desire, who just wanted deliverance from poverty, hunger unemployment and inflation, besides aiming at building colleges, hospitals and motorways.
The prime minister, who was accompanied by Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer and other party leaders, told the gathering attended by thousands of people that people did prove what they had desired in the by-polls held in Jhelum and Burewala.
The prime minister said the government was targeting every sector – a fact appreciated by the entire world. “Yesterday, I was in Gwadar, today I am here. This is the country’s development agenda.”
He said power plants were being built across the country and loadshedding would be reduced next year and completely eliminated in 2018.“The PML-N government is implementing the agenda of progress and development in the country and believes in serving the people,” the prime minister reaffirmed. “Elevating the living standard of the people of the country is the duty of the government and the PML-N is fulfilling its responsibility in this regard.”
Nawaz also mentioned his plans to construct 40 modern hospitals with total capacity of 10,000 beds in different parts of the country.He also announced a road project to link Baddu Malhi and Kala Shah Kaku, an interchange on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway at Pindi Das and an overhead bridge from Imamia Colony railway crossing to Shahdara.
The six-lane 16.5 km-long Eastern Bypass will connect with Lahore Ring Road some 3.3 kilometres away from the Niazi Interchange.The bypass, starting from Mehmood Booti Interchange at Lahore Ring Road, would culminate at Kala Shah Kaku Interchange — the junction of GT Road and Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.
It would facilitate the traffic at the GT Road moving towards eastern and northern Lahore. It will also divert the traffic load besides curbing the heavy flow between Kala Shah Kaku and Lahore at Ravi Bridge and the GT Road.
Keeping in view the Punjab government’s proposed Shahi Bagh Park Project, this bypass is supposed to open up new avenues for development of tourism and trade in the area.Earlier in Islamabad, the prime minister described the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) not merely a strategic agreement between the two countries but also as a symbol of successful completion of their 65 years of friendship.
Talking to SEP SPIC Chairman Wang Yundan at the PM House, Nawaz said, “By working together, we can bring peace and stability in the region through economic development of our people.”He reiterated that CPEC would not only serve as a game changer for Pakistan but also a fate changer for the entire region, by helping it get rid of economic deprivation and attain peace and prosperity.
“CPEC is a new concept of diplomacy based on shared goals of prosperity for Pakistan and the region and a project to eliminate poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment.”On the occasion, Yundan said the resolve and commitment of Pakistan government to make CPEC a success was highly commendable.
Separately, Nawaz invited the Turkish investors to explore Pakistan’s infrastructure and energy sectors.He was talking to Chairman Foreign Economic Relations Board Turkey (DEIK) Omer Cihad Vardan, who is in Pakistan to attend Pakistan Turkey Business Roundtable being held as a follow-up to the recent visit of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to Turkey.
