Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday that said a national dialogue must be held to evolve consensus for new province but it should not be used as mere election slogan.

Addressing a public gathering here after inaugurating Multan-Shujabad section of Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5), the prime minister said many other countries had also created new provinces that was possible in Pakistan too.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi has said the country can only be taken forward through the political process and democracy.

Inaugurating the Multan-Shuja'abad section of Sukkur-Multan motorway project in Shuja'abad today, he said the people are the ultimate decision makers in the democratic set up.  He said the next general elections will be held in July this year and making a choice amongst the political parties is not difficult for the people as they have witnessed the performance of all the parties in the provinces. 

The Prime Minister said the PML (N) government over the last five years completed an unprecedented number of projects in every nook and corner of the country worth billions of rupees. 

He said despite many challenges, we fulfilled the promises and took forward the country on the path of development. He said PML (N) believes in the politics of decency, development and serving the masses.

He said we also completed those projects which were facing delays over the last many decades.

About the power projects, the Prime Minister said ten thousand and four hundred megawatts of electricity was added to the national grid over the last five years. He said despite summer season and shortage of water, electricity is being ensured during Sehr and Iftar times. 

On the demand of new provinces, Shahid Khaqan Abbassi emphasized the need for evolving national consensus on the matter. He said a national dialogue on this issue can be held after the elections. 

About Multan-Shuja'abad section of motorway, he said this project has been completed one year before the stipulated period.

He said the entire project of Sukkur Multan motorway will cost two hundred and ninety four billion rupees.

He was accompanied by Governor Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana and Minister for Water Resources Javed Ali Shah. 

The prime minister earlier unveiled the plaque of the project what he said had been completed a year ahead of schedule.

The Sukkur-Multan Motorway is part of Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project and is being constructed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that would cost Rs 294 billion.

Work on the motorway was started in 2016 and is scheduled to complete by 2019. It is a 6-lane access controlled facility, taking off from Sukkur and terminating at Multan, after passing through several major cities including Ghotki, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad and Bahawalpur.

The prime minister told the gathering that those who had now been calling for South Punjab province were part of Pervez Musharraf’s government when new province could have been created within no time.

He said such people were just cheating the people and challenged them to prove their performance during their respective tenures with that of the PML-N government in all sectors.

He said the whole political elite should join heads on the issue of new provinces and other national issues as the politics of blackmailing and impersonation would not work anymore.

He said the present government had delivered even beyond its commitments and besides it own projects, it had also accomplished the half-complete projects of previous government that had been lingering for decades.
He said the previous governments too had same resources but failed to deliver.

During the last five years, the government had executed record projects, comparing with the last 65 years. It had added around 10,400MW to national grid, comparing with 20,000 MW generated since creation of Pakistan.