HAFIZABAD - Prime Minster Shahid Khaqan Abbasi yesterday declared any kind of rigging in the upcoming Senate elections would not be accepted and vowed to fight such conspiracies in the national interest.
While inaugurating distribution of national health cards to poor and hapless people here, the prime minister said trying to get a Senate seat through horse trading could never be in the national interest. “We will resist any such attempt by any party to get Senate seats beyond its votes in the provincial assemblies. Such parties can neither represent the masses nor can they serve the country,” he maintained.
He called for sanity and said all institutions should work within their domains and respect each other to ensure progress and prosperity of the country. “We respect all the institutions and accepted the judgments of the courts in letter and spirit, so we expect from others to respect and accept the decisions made by the parliament,” the PM asserted.
He said: “It was unfortunate that we were called mafia and dacoits, which is tantamount to insulting 200 million people of the country.” He regretted that former premier Nawaz Sahrif was ousted despite the fact that corruption of not even a single rupee was proven against him.
He emphatically declared that due to unprecedented progress and development in almost all the sectors in the country, the PML-N would sweep the next elections. The PM said politicians are made accountable after every five years in the general elections and those who work for the welfare of the masses and progress of the country are reelected.
It was vision of Nawaz Sharif that Prime Minister National Health Programme, Punjab Health Initiative, Specialised and Medical Education Punjab and National Health Services were started with the collaboration of NRST, Nadra and State Life Insurance Company to end sense of deprivation among poor and hapless people to provide them with the best possible medical care free of cost in any hospital of the country. Today he is inaugurating distribution of such cards in Hafizabad district, he added.
He said national health cards would be provided to the poor in all the provinces, Azad Kashmir and Baltistan and the programme would be further expanded to the country.
The prime minister said the present government has completed various mega projects which could not be executed during the past 60 years by any government. The government has succeeded in overcoming electricity and gas crises which had resulted in closure of mills and factories in the past, he added. The government has added 11,400 megawatts electricity to the national grid and the country which was importing 1 million tonnes of fertilizer every year is now importing only 600,000 tonnes in spite of conspiracies of sit-ins and protests. “We strived to solve the problems of the masses and the people are benefiting from road network, gas, electricity and healthcare.
The masses have reposed trust in the dynamic leadership of Nawaz Sharif and rejected the policies of the politicians having negative thinking. He declared the masses would reject all the politicians with hollow slogans, insulting behaviour and negative politics in the upcoming 2018 elections.
He announced the establishment of the campus of a University at Hafizabad, increase in pressure of Sui gas in 25 villages and renovation of Jalalpur Bhttian-Pindi Bhattian Road, Hafizabad-Sheikhpura Road, Nakki Chatta-Jlapur Bhattian Road and Kot Nanak-Bourianwala Road.
National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Minister Saira Afzal Tarar, in her address, highlighted the salient features of National Health Programme and said 400,000 national health cards would be distributed in Hafizabad district and 3 million people of the country would benefit from this facility. She disclosed the beneficiaries of BISP would get the national health cards in a transparent manner.
She said the people would reject politics based on falsehood and vote for those who are sincere and determined to serve the masses and bring the country forward.
The minister said Nawaz Sharif is more satisfied than he was in the past as he has not committed any sin. She was sure that PML-N would emerge victorious in the forthcoming elections as it had fulfilled most of its promises.
Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Specialised Healthcare Initiative has been launched to ensure self-respect to the poor. He claimed polio has been eliminated to a great extent, EPI vaccination has further improved and all-out efforts are being made to cure hepatitis.
Earlier, Prime Minister Abbasi, State Minster for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, State Minister Arshad Khan Leghari and Adviser to PM Musaddaq Malik were received at the helipad by Saira Afzal Tarar, District Council Chairman Afzal Husain Tarar, MNA Mian Shaid Hussain Bhatti and the district administration officials.