Taliban’s serious offer for dialogue must be considered: Nawaz

• Future PM says peace essential for taking country forward, economic prosperity
• To support, help coalition government in Sindh
• No timeframe for ending load shedding can be given

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President and future prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has said that any serious dialogue offer from the Taliban needed to be considered, as the country direly needed peace to revamp the economy.

He said peace was also essential for taking the country forward after it had suffered a loss of over 40,000 lives and billions of dollars in material while fighting the war on terror.

“Bullet and gun should not be the only option to curb the menace,” Nawaz said while addressing party’s MNAs and MPAs-elect in Lahore.

Nawaz said after formation of the government, he would take every party inside and outside parliament on board on a national agenda so that the country could be steered away from the problems with collective efforts. “It is time to save the country more than politics,” he added.

He expressed confidence over the smooth transfer of power after completion of the tenure of an elected government, as well as on the majority seats won by the PML-N in the election, which he said was a public recognition of performance of the party and efforts it made to see rule of law and supremacy of the constitution in the country.

Nawaz said his government was going to inherit massive problems from the last government, yet it was determined to complete the works of years in months and of months in days.

Without giving any specific deadline to overcome the energy crisis and wiping out load shedding, Nawaz said his government would spare no effort to minimise load shedding and the nation would see the difference not in the first 100 days but in within 30 days of his government.

“There is no money in the national coffer, the debt burden stands at Rs 16,000 billion and Rs 500 billion are needed just to meet the circular debt to ensure continuous supply of power,” he said, adding that his party had started work to deal with all these woes.

“The PML-N government is inheriting mounds of problems but it is determined to deliver,” Nawaz said.

Describing load shedding as a problem requiring urgent attention, Nawaz said he had asked Ishaq Dar to make arrangement to discharge the circular debt and adopt measures to not let the same mount up again.

Alluding to the timeframe given by Shahbaz Sharif on ending load shedding, he said Shahbaz said that in a fit of excitement. However, he said every mean “will be explored to overcome the problem in at the earliest”.

He said his government would not leave the problems to the next government or generation and the first 30 days of his government would show the nation it was directed in the right way.

The PML-N chief said his government would serve the people of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without any discrimination and by rising above consideration whether or not they voted for his party.

“The PML-N government in the Centre will provide every facility and meet every need of the incoming PPP-MQM government in Sindh for ending terrorism, maintain law and order, for good governance and to end bloodshed and corruption in that province. But then it will be expected that no body falls in Karachi or Sindh.”

Nawaz underscored the need for peace for national progress and development and said his government would prefer to use the option of dialogue as offered by Taliban for peace in the country.

He said May 11 was a day of accountability of political parties.

Nawaz said that after joining of the independents, the PML-N had inched closer to majority to form the government in the Centre single-handedly.

He said his party accepted the mandate of other parties in KP and Sindh, while it was forming a coalition government in Balochistan.

Nawaz said the situation in Balochistan was difficult but the coalition government would put up best efforts to ameliorate it.