Erdogan wishes victory to Shahbaz in elections

LAHORE: Turkey’s President  Recep  Tayyip Erdogan called Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and expressed the hope that the PML-N would again emerge victorious in the upcoming general elections.

Erdogan congratulated Shahbaz for assuming the office of PML-N president and prayed for an early recovery of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

The chief minister in tweet said he thanked the Turkish for his best wishes and kind words, adding, “We wish him success in the upcoming elections.” Earlier in the day on Friday, Shahbaz Sharif said a network of modern hospitals had been spread across the province and high-quality medicines were being provided in public sector facilities.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of a 100-bed Tehsil Headquarters Hospital costing Rs 555 million at Kahna Nau in the outskirts of the provincial capital, the chief minister said the political opponents were unnerved because they had not done anything in their provinces. Both PTI and PPP were the two sides of the same coin and had been lying day and night, he added. “[Asif Ali] Zardari and [Imran Khan] Niazi have joined hands and Bilawal House and Bani Gala have harmonised,” he remarked.

He said the PTI damaged the country though the agitation-based politics and sit-ins. They had ruined KP, while Zardari left no stone unturned to devastate Karachi and other parts of Sindh. The nation has to decide if it is with the nation-builders or it will side with those who have plundered the nation.”

He said, “Mr Ilzam Khan claims that he has changed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and he boasts of making a new Pakistan,” and added that the PTI government had not built a single new hospital in the province during the last five years.”

“On the other hand, Asif Zardari has devastated Karachi and heaps of garbage and filth are seen everywhere. During my recent visit to Karachi, people complained to me that there is no water or any proper public transport system and they are forced to travel on rundown buses daily,” said the chief minister. Shahbaz said NAB and other agencies were very active in Punjab. “If corruption of even a single penny is proved against me, I would be answerable to you. We have saved billions of rupees in development projects and I shall salute to anybody who has ever saved Rs 7 million through such efforts during the last 70 years,” he challenged.

Shahbaz said during the peak of energy crisis in 2012-13, the loadshedding duration had reached to 20 hours a day. “Today, electricity is available and loadshedding has been sufficiently decreased. The efforts to overcome the energy crisis under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif have bear fruit,” he noted.

“We are humans and not angels and it is said that to err is human. However, if Punjab is compared with Sindh and KP with regard to development then everything would be crystal clear. If people will give an opportunity to serve them again then all the federating units would be equally developed,” said Shahbaz who vowed to make Pakistan a welfare state.

Visiting different wards of the hospital and inquiring about the health of patients, he asked them and their attendants about the services who expressed their satisfaction over the provision of facilities in the hospital.

The chief minister said the facilities in the hospital were similar to those available in other best national and international hospitals. The new hospital would also cater to the needs of the patients coming from Kasur and other adjoining areas, he added.