Sharif tells expats in Saudi Arabia PML-N govt is focussing on governance, ensuring transparency in affairs
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said the government was committed to bringing economic stability and ending load shedding and terrorism from the country so that peace and prosperity returns to Pakistan.
Addressing a gathering of Pakistanis, Prime Minister Sharif reiterated government’s resolve to eliminate extremism and terrorism from the country. He said the supporters of terrorism would not be spared and law of the land would prevail. He said Operation Zarb-e-Azb was going on successfully and would continue till the elimination of the last terrorist. In this regard he also mentioned the national consensus and the commitment of the political parties to amend the army Act.
The prime minister said his government was improving governance and ensuring transparency in all affairs and pointed that it was also endorsed by the Transparency International.
He said when his government came into power the foreign exchange reserves were less than $8 billion, whereas in 20 months they have risen to $16 billion, while the State Bank reserves have gone up to $11 billion.
He said his government was working on short and long term projects to end load shedding and an additional 10,000 MW of electricity would be added to the national grid by end of 2017. He said load shedding would end in three years.
He said long-term measures included work on Bunji, Bhasha and Diamir dams that would generate around 16,000 MW and help meet future needs of the country.
The premier also informed the Pakistani community about the Karachi-Lahore motorway project and said land was being acquired for the project that would usher in an era of prosperity in the county.
He said the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway was also being reconstructed and would have new and better fencing, service areas, trees and other modern facilities.
He dismissed the allegations of rigging in the general election and said it was not proper to say such things. He said in fact after recounting the number of votes increased. His party won the seats with huge margins, he added.
He said even the courts, the Election Commission were surprised to hear such allegations. He said PML-N was neither the part of federal nor provincial caretaker setups, so how can it be accused of any such malpractice.
The prime minister also appreciated the role of overseas Pakistanis for bringing good name to country with their hard work and also in national economy.
Sharif said Pakistan has good ties with Afghanistan and mentioned the cordial ties with President Ashraf Ghani.
He said Pakistan also desires good relations with India. He regretted the incidents of firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and said it must end. Pakistan, he said, desires resolution of all issues with India.