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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Senate chairman enjoys no respect, says PM

By Saeed Akhtar
March 25, 2018

NANKANA SAHIB: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said Sadiq Sanjrani commands no respect among the masses, as parliamentarians’ votes were purchased to make him the Senate chairman.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of a bridge over River Ravi at Syedwala on Saturday, he said the Senate is a symbol of the Federation in the country, but unfortunately the incumbent chairman brought insult to his office. He said the Senate chairman does not belong to any political party.

Abbasi said the PML-N has rejected the politics of purchasing votes and it did not give money to any senator to win their votes. He suggested that Sanjrani should be removed and a consensus candidate should be made the Senate chairman. Abbasi said only the people could decide about their rulers, and nobody else. He said the opponents are hurling abuses at the PML-N in their rallies, but the Muslim League has always done politics of decency and served the nation. He said the people are well aware of the performance of the PML-N government in the last four years. The government's performance is clear and visible like daylight.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan have proved to be a failure as their governments’ performance remained zero in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, respectively. He said former premier Nawaz Sharif is standing among the masses even today due to the PML-N government’s performance during the past over four years, while the dharna (sit-in) politics pushed the country towards chaos. He said now electricity and gas are being provided to industries without any suspension.

Abbasi said the PML-N government completed development projects from Khyber to Karachi, but the party leaders are being punished for serving the masses. He said the performance would decide in the upcoming elections who would form the next government in the Centre and the provinces.

The prime minister asked the people to question other leaders also about their performance when they come to them to seek votes during the upcoming elections. He said the PML-N has always talked about democracy, as the country’s progress is linked with democracy. He said the PML-N would continue to serve the masses under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Abbasi announced provision of gas in the area and funds for the construction of a road from Mor Khunda to Head Balloki. He also pledged help for the construction of lawyers’ colony in Nankana. The Punjab Governor, Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, federal ministers Chaudhry Barjis Tahir, Talal Chaudhry, MNAs Dr Shezra Mansib Ali, Nadeem Abbas Rabeera and Shazadi Umar Hayat Tawana, MPAs Malik Zulqarnain Dogar and Mehr Kashif, Deputy Commissioner Nankana Malik Abdul Waheed and DPO Nankana Sahibzada Bilal Umar were also present on the occasion.

Our correspondent adds: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while ruling out the possibility of a judicial or any other form of martial law, said the people of Pakistan believe in democracy and the future of the country would be decided through nothing but the ballot in 2018 elections.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the first CCV line and aluminium alloy manufacturing plant in the Sundar Industrial Estate, the prime minister said the country has gone through the mill and the institutions have been maturing over time in an organic manner. Democracy must and shall prevail and there would be no coup of any sort, added the prime minister, dispelling the recent buzz created by Sheikh Rasheed and the rumour mills.

The prime minister talked about the state of affairs when PML-N took over the government and the mammoth challenges facing the country. He said the state of economy, security and electric power were at their lowest ebb, but under the leadership of the PML-N Quaid and the premier at the time Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N handled all these challenges effectively. He said thousands of megawatts of electricity has been added to the national grid. “The energy crisis in 2013 was at peak. The government produced over 10,000 megawatts of electricity through direct and alternative means, and this would help Pakistan for years to come,” Abbasi said. He talked about the foreign investors returning to the country because of the efforts of the PML-N government under Nawaz and termed it the dawn of an era of progress in the country.

Talking about the infrastructural milestones achieved by the government, he mentioned that despite limited resources, about 1,700-km six lanes motorway network is being completed, he said and expressed his resolve to serve the country with limited resources.

In an interview with a private news channel, the prime minister remarked that no one could put an end to the political career of former premier Nawaz Sharif. “No one has been able to do it before nor will they be able to do it now,” added PM Abbasi. Nawaz was previously convicted in a hijacking case, he said, adding that the former premier was even termed a ‘hijacker’.

About the Supreme Court’s verdict which led to Nawaz’s disqualification as the president of PML-N, the PM said after the verdict the party decided that Nawaz would be the ‘Quaid’ [leader] while his brother Shahbaz Sharif was elected president of the party. “Decisions have also been made after holding discussions with the party members,” he shared, adding Nawaz’s opinion holds considerable value while making party decisions.

The premier dismissed the chatter about Nawaz going to jail as mere speculation. “Nawaz has been to prison before. He can give party policy from the prison as well. People have won elections while being imprisoned.” Nawaz even managed to run the party even during the tenure of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, he added.