Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said the recent increase in electricity prices was approved with a heavy heart, but the prices of electricity would be reduced after production from new power projects started.
Addressing PML-N parliamentarians, party workers and people from various walks of life after offering Eidul Azha prayers at Jati Umra on Wednesday, Nawaz expressed firm resolve to overcome the prevailing challenges of terrorism, extremism and energy crisis during the constitutional term of PML-N government with the support of people.
The prime minister said the PML-N took charge of the government in a very difficult time when the country was facing a number of critical challenges.
“By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are determined to make a bright future for Pakistan through hard work and come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people,” he said.
Nawaz said the government took all political parties on board for preparing common agenda to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country. The prime minister said the government adopted the dialogue process to restore peace in country and hoped that the efforts of talks would be successful.
Talking about the Karachi operation, Nawaz said the government was going to introduce new laws to counter crimes and terrorism that would ensure punishment to every criminal who killed innocent people. He said the criminals would be treated according to their crimes and misdeeds irrespective of their party affiliation.
“We are going to take bold decisions for the sake of restoring peace and maintaining law and order in Karachi and everywhere in the country,” he added.
He was of the opinion that eradication of terrorism and other crimes was key to restore peace in Karachi and other parts of the country in order to improve investment and end economic dependency on others.
The prime minister appreciated the performance of law enforcement agencies in Karachi and the decrease in crimes to some extent.
Nawaz said the energy crisis had become a major challenge that badly affected the economy of the country, adding that the government was fully committed to overcome it during its five-year constitutional term.
He added the government had launched operation against power theft to overcome the shortage of electricity.
Nawaz said the government inherited a number of challenges from the previous regimes as the previous rulers did not bother to address these, however, he added the PML-N had sincere intention to bring the country out of crises like terrorism, lawlessness, energy shortage and worsening economy.
He deplored that no ruler in the last thirteen years evolved a national strategy to overcome terrorism, energy crisis, lawlessness, poverty and unemployment, which push the country into a critical state.
“We have a national agenda to eliminate terrorism from every area and restore peace to bring stability and prosperity in the country,” the PM maintained.
He urged the nation to come forward to strengthen the government’s hands in its efforts to bring peace, stability and prosperity in country.