LAHORE - PML-N MNA-elect Ch Jaffar Iqbal has said that a number of serious challenges are awaiting the incoming government of his party which is fully competent to counter them as it did it in the past.
Jaffar who has been elected from NA-106, Gujrat, defeating PPP stalwart Qamar Zaman Kaira and an independent Noorul Hassan Shah, said while talking to The Nation here Friday that the victory of the PML-N reflected public trust in this party which had come under an added responsibility to deliver and come up the people’s expectations. He said the PML-N government was going to inherit serious problems from the PPP government, but it had a sound roadmap to solve them.
The public mandate to PML-N, he said, corroborated good governance of Shahbaz Sharif in the last Punjab government, the vision of Nawaz Sharif and the policies of the PML-N outlined through its manifesto and going to be implemented by its government. He said, “Nawaz Sharif thinks what the people think, so the next government will act in good relationship with the masses.” He said the Motorway, nuclear tests, Gwadar port, economic schemes etc were all which the country and the people needed for development and prosperity and the N-League government took them up in the past. The track record of PML-N, he said, was replete with transparency and struggle for the rule of law and strong institutions.
Answering a question, he said the people even in the rural area had become aware and did not vote for a candidate who performed poorly in the past, no matter which party, biradari or group he belonged to. And the people voted for PML-N on its performance which they did not find in any other party.
When asked how he defeated Kaira, he repeated it was due to the vision of the PML-N leadership, coupled with his planning. Moreover, he said, the people had faced hardships in the PPP rule. “Now the masses have realised that unless they unite and act as a nation, the problems facing the country cannot be solved,” he asserted.
When asked if he knew his actual contest was with PTI, he replied he knew that the contest was with both.
When asked what he would do if given a role to serve the masses, he said he would consider it as a test and work honestly putting in best efforts to come up to expectations of the masses and his leadership. However, he said, he would accept whatever the decision his party leadership would take in this behalf.
When asked which portfolio he would like to have, he replied it would be up to the decision of the party leadership, adding even if he was not made part of the cabinet, he would continue to adhere to the party discipline, serve the people of his constituency.
To a question, he said Nawaz Sharif, Qaud-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Maududi, Nelson Mandela and Mahatir Muhammad were his favourite personalities. He firmly believed that the holy Quran is a miracle which will remain so till the Day of Judgment.
To another question, he said if he was given an opportunity, he would prioritise loadsheding, economy, law and order, education, and justice for urgent attention. At the level of his constituency, he said he wanted to set up a medical university/modern teaching hospital, a children hospital, an industrial estate and a dairy farm, besides upgrading Rasool Technology College to a university and guiding centres for farmers.