Revolutions are driven by hard work, not empty rhetoric: PM

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Saturday said that hard work, not tall claims, brought about revolutions and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had proved their mettle by working hard. The prime minister said the PML-N would accept decision of the people in the elections and only those who had the mandate would form the next government.

He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the National Incubation Centre (NIC) at the Islamia College here. The NIC is funded by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT&T) and Ignite Fund, while Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and LMKT are jointly executing the project.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister of IT&T Anusha Rehman and dignitaries from public and private sectors attended the ceremony.

Without explicitly referring to the prevailing political situation, the prime minister said the nation would make its decision in the upcoming general elections and the PML-N would accept the verdict of the people.

The premier praised the efforts of Anusha Rehman and her team for bringing visible improvement in the working of her ministry. “We have proven ourselves by working,” he said. He added that they know they could only move forward by working hard or else they would have to go home.

The prime minister said the people would judge their work and make their decision in the next four to five months and his party would accept whatever the people decided.

Turning to the NIC, the prime minister said it would prove to be a milestone in the IT sector and a harbinger of new IT culture for the people of KP. He said it would bring about a revolution in the IT sector that would lead to new vistas of business and create job opportunities for youth in the far-flung and tribal areas to bring them into the national mainstream of development.

However, he stressed the need for cooperation among the federal, provincial and local governments to make the project a success.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the government considered the provision of the broadband facility to every nook and corner of the country as its foremost responsibility. “It will enable the youth to stand on their own feet and surmount the challenges of extremism the country has been facing for decades,” he argued.

The prime minister said the government soon after assuming power had realised that the country lagged behind in the IT and telecommunication sector so it issued 3G and 4G licences which were delayed for some five years. He said the government not only conceived projects but also got these materialised in the shortest possible time. He said the government had spread the network of motorways, added thousands of megawatts electricity to the national grid and concluded billions of dollars gas agreements.