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Priority fair polls in 2023, not conciliation or confrontation: Shehbaz

During a press briefing, Shehbaz Sharif said, “We want only fair elections and there is no need of any reconciliatory or aggressive politics.”

By Our Correspondent
August 31, 2021

KARACHI: PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that all political parties must be provided an equal chance and a level playing field for fair elections to form the people’s government.

During a press briefing, Shehbaz Sharif said, “We want only fair elections and there is no need of any reconciliatory or aggressive politics.” He said he had not seen that establishment had supported a government this much. Despite the establishment’s support, the incompetent government did not take any benefit from that.

Shehbaz Sharif visited Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum in Karachi and offered fateha and paid tributes to the founding father of the nation. He said that Nawaz Sharif is his leader and he would remain his leader. Shehbaz Sharif alleged that the incumbent government did not come from people’s votes.

He said Pakistan could regain its lost glory with honesty and hard work. Talking to media persons, Shehbaz Sharif said that Quaid-i-Azam wanted to see Pakistan a welfare state, and poet of the East Allama Muhammad Iqbal presented the idea of the state of Pakistan through his poetry.

“Standing at the Mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah after passing of 74 years since independence, we feel shame that as a nation we did not follow the path of the great Quaid and Pakistan broke into two and even that we did not learn message,” he added.

Shehbaz Sharif said, “We support the Afghan dialogue and it is up to the people of Afghanistan to choose their government.” Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that not patwaris or maulanas, jiyalas are a threat to the government.

“Opposition leader from the PPP is thrown in jail, but a person holding the same position who hails from Lahore roams freely,” he said while taking a jibe at the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

Bilawal was referring to veteran PPP leader Khursheed Shah, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau's Sukkur chapter on September 18, 2019, in an accumulation of assets beyond means case. Back in July, the Sindh High Court dismissed a petition seeking Shah's post-arrest bail.

“We warn the government to oppress others only as much as it can bear oppression itself,” said Bilawal while addressing party workers in Sukkur. "How long could you stay imprisoned if it were you?" Bilawal asked PM Imran Khan.

He also invited the opposition to support the PPP, stressing that the party is capable of "not only giving a tough time to the government but also overthrowing it". “PPP is going to form a government soon, therefore, PPP workers should be ready for struggle,” said Bilawal.

He said that the PPP is up to save Pakistan as well as people's jobs. “They [Centre] are trying to hurt PPP supporters but they should know that it is their first and last rule,” said Bilawal.

Later on, while holding a press conference in Sukkur, the PPP chairman said that he cannot comment on whether the Pakistan Democratic Movement's rally was a "successful" event. However, he said that the rally would have been "more fruitful if the women were allowed to attend it." “How can a country work without women," questioned Bilawal, adding that it is Karachi, not Afghanistan, where women cannot attend rallies.

He said that PDM’s politics is benefiting the government than harming it, adding that PM Imran Khan had promised Pakistanis 10 million jobs but he abandoned them. "Instead of providing jobs, the PTI-led government deprived 16,000 people of their sources of income," he said. "While Banigala has been regularised, the poor are left homeless."

Bilawal went on to add that the PPP has "always been a target for PM Imran Khan since it is the biggest obstacle in PTI’s way." Bilawal also urged political parties to play their role in establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan. “The Afghan soil shouldn’t be used against Pakistan,” said Bilawal.