PM pledges to take country to prosperity if mandated in elections

Shehbaz says Nawaz and entire PML-N leadership have tested potential to change destiny of nation n Govt to step down ahead of completing its tenure n Targets PTI govt for pushing the country towards destruction through several corruption scandals and wrong policies n No nation can make progress if women are not made productive part of society.

 

LAHORE/SIALKOT  -  Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if on Sunday said that if given an opportunity in the upcoming general elections, Nawaz Shar­if and the entire leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would change the destiny of the country by taking it on the path of progress and prosperity.

Addressing the cheques dis­tribution ceremony under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme, he said that they would accept the public mandate in the upcom­ing polls and urged the people to take their decisions after look­ing into certain facts and by jux­taposing the performance of the PML-N governments with that of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s four years’ saga of destruction.

The prime minister, while lauding the statesmanship qualities of his elder brother, regretted that former prime minister and his leader Nawaz Sharif was ousted from pow­er despite the fact that he had ended hours-long crippling loadshedding, provided laptops and loans to youth, brought mu­ti-billions China Pakistan Eco­nomic Corridor (CEPC) power and road infrastructure proj­ects during 2015.

On the other hand, Imran Khan had a phobia of PML-N leadership and the opposition as day in and day out, he was bent upon putting them in jails with the framing of fake cas­es, he said, adding the PTI lead­er could not assimilate the rev­olutionary steps taken by the PML-N government. 

All the youth programmes, he said, were started during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif as alone 50,000 vehicles were provid­ed to the people on merit across Punjab province. The success of the loan scheme could be gauged from the fact that 99 per cent of loans were returned back to banks, he added.

The prime minister main­tained that Nawaz Sharif and they had experienced the worst kind of political vendet­ta, even they were sent into ex­ile after outer from power, but unlike Imran Niazi, the PML-N Quaid never thought of any­thing against the country. 

He elaborated that the person (Imran Khan) who was brought to power through a fraud elec­tion, kept on chanting the cor­ruption charges during his four years tenure but did not prove them, adding that when he was removed from power corridors through a constitutional manner, he used dirty language and tac­tics against the state institutions. 

The prime minister men­tioned that PTI’s tenure was tainted with huge corruption scams including sugar and wheat scams, BRT Peshawar, MalamJabba, sale of Toshakha­na gifts, Rs 60 billion money em­bezzlement returned by the UK agency, etc, and said that no one could deny these stark facts.

The prime minister said during his tenure, about one million laptops were given to the youth and the PTI leader­ship blamed them for using the scheme as a bribe, adding that contrary to it, their initiative brought about an IT revolution in the country, enabling the youth to continue their stud­ies, work as freelancers and earn a respectable livelihood for their families. A number of ministers, advisers, parliamen­tarians, officials and beneficia­ries of the loan and families at­tended the ceremony.

The prime minister stressed that these laptops were given purely on merit, and if proved otherwise, he would be held ac­countable as these resources belonged to the country. 

The prime minister said that allegations, scandals, and the use of foul language were rife during the PTI’s government. 

About 3 billion dollar loans were given to the powerful fam­ilies during the PTI’s govern­ment, he said, and questioned why this huge amount was not spent on the future of youth. 

Toshakhana gifts for the coun­try were sold in a shabby man­ner and efforts were made by Imran Niazi to protect his spouse from criminal cases.

He said that Nawaz Sharif had spent 40 years in politics and experienced ordeals for the sake of the motherland. 

Nawaz Sharif was accused of Panama papers and given pun­ishment in Iqama charges, he said, adding that PML-N Quaid appeared before courts regular­ly but on the other hand, Imran Niazi was being granted bail.

The prime minister referring to the minister for finance’s an­nouncement regarding the re­duction in prices of petroleum products by Rs9 and Rs7.50 per liter said that it was all possible due to appreciation in the val­ue of the rupee against the dol­lar which provided them an op­portunity to pass on the relief to the public. The prime minister said that it was also the IMF’s programme’s positive aspect that brought stability to the val­ue of the rupee. “Those people who had conspired against the country, with the grace of Allah Almighty, all their machinations have been buried and their links abroad, including a recent state­ment by Israel against Pakistan, all these were failed,” he add­ed. About IMF’s agreement, he said it was something of ‘sweet meat’, and alluded to the eco­nomic challenges. But with de­termination and commitment, they could stabilize the econo­my with revolutionary and bold steps, he stressed. 

The prime minister said with sacrifices and hard work, and the solemn pledge by the gov­ernment, the rich and those peo­ple blessed with resources, pub­lic servants, and politicians, they could change the country’s fate. Earlier, the prime minister, while addressing a ceremony to dis­tribute laptops under PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme 2023 at Govern­ment College Women Universi­ty, Sialkot, urged women to come forward and ramp up their vital roles in different fields of life and make contributions to the prog­ress of the economy.

He said Rs 5 billion were al­located for projects related to the empowerment of women. “No nation can make progress if women are not made produc­tive part of society.”

He said in the past his govern­ment had spent a substantial amount on the medical educa­tion of female students and the investment in women’s educa­tion would continue. He said next month his government would complete its tenure and a caretaker government would be formed. If people would give chance to them in the next elec­tions, our government would bring revolution in the field of education and a large number of students would be given lap­tops, he remarked.

He said the laptops were given as recognition of the hard work and talent of the students. The laptops were distributed on the basis of merit in the past as well, he added Shehbaz Sharif said Muslims were left behind in dif­ferent fields of education while the West moved ahead and it was time for reflection and ac­tion in the right direction. He called on students to work hard and show humbleness and Allah will help them in their efforts. 

Meanwhile, talking to a del­egation comprising members of Parliament and office bear­ers of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in Sialkot, the PM directed the formulation of a policy for the establishment of one-window facilitation centers for resolving issues of exporters.

The delegation paid tribute to the prime minister on the fi­nal approval of the agreement with the International Mone­tary Fund and the revival of the country’s economy.

The prime minister thanked members of the delegation for standing shoulder to shoulder during the hard decisions tak­en in the interest of the country.

The PM was briefed about the issues faced by the chamber.

He directed the administra­tion in Sialkot for the construc­tion of highways and their main­tenance and restoration.