Court verdicts against Nawaz to end up in history’s dustbin: Abbasi

SIALKOT: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said, “Nawaz Sharif was our leader and is our leader and will remain our leader,” adding that the PML-N was united under the leadership of Nawaz.

He said after the Supreme Court verdict against Nawaz, political rivals were expecting a split in the PML-N but it had withstood the storm. He said the court decisions against the PML-N president would go in the dustbin of history, reminding that an anti-terrorism court had declared Nawaz a hijacker but the masses and history did not accept the verdict.

Addressing the party workers at the residence of Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, Abbasi said the PML-N would win the next general elections, adding that political decisions were made at polling stations, not in courts. Governing was not easy anywhere in the world but it was very difficult in Pakistan, he remarked.

Abbasi said those who changed political parties and leaders daily did not serve Pakistan and politics. The prime minister said the ruling party did not do the politics of mudslinging but that of serving the masses and addressing their problems.

During his visit, Abbasi inaugurated the international terminal at the Sialkot airport, terming it the "first successful Greenfield airport" in the world. The prime minister said unlike other unsuccessful Greenfield airports in the world, the Sialkot International Airport was continuously being expanded with favourable outcomes.

A Greenfield airport is a new airport constructed at an undeveloped site in contrast to the Brownfield project where the already operational infrastructure is modified or upgraded. He mentioned that the businessmen of Faisalabad also showed keen interest in establishment of a similar airport in their city, to which he assured them full government support.

The prime minister regretted that several attempts were made in the last four years to spread anarchy in the country, however, the government moved on undeterred and only focused on completion of development work.

Separately, Abbasi said whether one admitted or not, the government had achieved historic success in the ongoing war against terrorism and put the country on the path of progress. He said the three leading political parties of the country, PML-N, PPP and PTI, had their governments in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively – but it was only the Punjab government which was practically busy in working for welfare of the people.

Addressing local exporters and industrialists at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), he said Pakistan with limited resources had achieved such considerable success against the terrorists and terrorism that more than 250,000 troops of NATO could not achieve in Afghanistan.

He promised the local businessmen to help in getting financial grant for the Tannery Zone of Sialkot from the Export Development Fund (EDF) and announced establishment of Export Development Committee (EDC) in order to solve the problems faced by the industrialists and exporters.  Abbasi also inspected the status of the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway, where top officials of the National Highways Authority (NHA) briefed him on the mega project, which will cost Rs 200 billion.