Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for teamwork and collective efforts to end the perils plaguing Karachi, highlighting that the upcoming elections would determine the city’s fate.

The PML-N president arrived in Karachi on Thursday evening to meet MQM-P leaders to finalise a deal on an electoral alliance between the two parties. In November, the parties had announced their decision to jointly contest the upcoming polls in Sindh and strengthen local governments nationwide through constitutional cover.

In the run-up to polls, the PML-N has set its sights on the port city. Last week, Shehbaz filed his nomination papers from Karachi National Assembly constituency NA-242 (Baldia Town) — the same seat that he had contested in the 2018 elections. However, that time around, he had lost to then-PTI leader Faisal Vawda in NA-249, which has now been renumbered to NA-242.

Earlier, party sources had told Dawn that one of the main reasons why Shehbaz was contesting from Karachi was to negate the impression that the city has never been important for the PML-N.

His candidature was one of the points agreed upon with MQM-P leaders during a recent meeting. The party had planned to field Mustafa Kamal from the same constituency but reportedly backed down after it emerged that Shehbaz was seeking to contest from there.

In a press conference alongside MQM-P leaders today, Shehbaz highlighted the collective achievements both parties had achieved through their partnership during the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government.

“I want to say this without any fear that I found MQM-P leaders very enthusiastic,” he said.

Shehbaz highlighted that the upcoming elections would decide if Pakistan wanted to embark on the development path but at the same time warned that some elements sought to see division in the country.

“There is only one solution to this […] these elections have to prove whether the political leadership can resolve this situation with mutual consultation,” he stressed.

Addressing the ladla (blue-eyed) label pinned to PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz questioned whether a ladla was someone who had been arrested in front of his daughter and stripped of premiership.

“No, a ladla is the person who is greeted in courts with ‘good to see you’,” he said.

Shehbaz highlighted that untiring efforts were required to give Karachi its due share. “Undoubtedly, I am sure this city’s fate will change after these elections, but this requires teamwork. No single person can handle these changes alone,” he added.

Earlier in the day, while speaking to media persons, the younger Sharif promised to put an end to the water tanker mafia in Karachi, develop public infrastructure and empower the youth with technical skills to accelerate Pakistan’s development.

He praised residents for forging an honest living for themselves and making Karachi the highest tax-paying city in Pakistan.

At the same time, Shehbaz lamented the unrest that had befallen the city in the past and led to its downfall, referring to target killings and extortion.

“When Nawaz Sharif was elected prime minister in 1998, he had put an end to all of this by working with various law enforcement agencies,” the PML-N leaders recalled, adding that Nawaz had always prioritised Karachi while in power.

“Had he not been deprived of the premiership, the Hyderabad-Karachi motorway would have been completed by now, alongside various other projects in rural Sindh,” Shehbaz said.

He also expressed the PML-N’s intent for strong election campaigns in Karachi, other parts of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Shehbaz acknowledged that Pakistan was far behind other countries when it came to public welfare projects, infrastructural development and public transport, promising that the PML-N, under the leadership of Nawaz, would bridge this gap.

“Public transport is the backbone of any country’s development, and PML-N will bring that to Karachi as best as we can,” he said, praising Nawaz for laying the foundation for Karachi’s Green Line in 2016.

Shehbaz emphasized that the PML-N would work collectively with all stakeholders to improve Karachi’s situation.