LOWER DIR: Former senator and central additional secretary information of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Zahid Khan has insisted that PML-N sacrificed its politics to save the country, prioritising the nation over political gains.

“Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the country was saved from default and set on the path to progress and prosperity,” he said, while speaking to various delegations and the media at his residence in Odigram here on Wednesday.

“JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will not be part of the opposition’s proposed protest movement against the government,” he asserted.

PML-N provincial vice-president Malik Mohammad Ayub Khan and Lower Dir general secretary Sardar Javed Tajik were also present.

Zahid Khan said that during his recent meeting with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, they discussed the country’s political situation, including the organisation and activation of the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif promised that they will visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after Eidul Fitr and strengthen PML-N as a powerful political force in the province,” Mr Zahid said, adding that Nawaz Sharif assured that in the next two years, the country would enter a new era of progress and prosperity.

Zahid Khan said that the country was currently going through a critical period, but unfortunately, the opposition was not playing its role. “The opposition is not concerned about the country’s development; their focus is solely on getting party Imran Khan released from jail.”

“PTI did not initiate any major development project in the province over the last 12 years, leading to public disillusionment and hindering the province’s progress,” he said.

The former senator said that the prime minister had formed a committee to initiate development projects in the province. He said that the establishment of a modern 500-bed hospital in Timergara, the construction of Chakdara-Timergara Expressway, and the creation of a separate division comprising the five districts of Lower and Upper Dir, Lower and Upper Chitral, and Bajaur were among PML-N’s priorities.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2025