KASUR: With only a few days left before his government ends, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set off on an election campaign trail on Sunday as he addressed a large crowd in Kasur, listing his government’s performances and promising much more if his party was elected into power again.

Addressing a public meeting after breaking ground for the 260km Kasur-Lahore-Bahawalnagar motorway in Khudian, 25km south of Kasur, he recalled the ‘achievements’ of his elder brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and criticised his nemesis, Imran Khan.

Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, faced the agony of court cases but eventually they were “proven innocent”, the premier said.

Mr Sharif blamed former chief justice Saqib Nisar and “his gang of conspirators” who ousted his elder brother on the basis of a residence permit when they failed to find any wrongdoing in the Panama Papers. There were 400 other people named in the Panama Papers but none of them, other than Nawaz Sharif, faced any trial, the PM added. The premier said Mr Nawaz would be the next prime minister of Pakistan and serve the people as he had done before. He reiterated he would dissolve the assemblies on Aug 9 and the people of Pakistan would decide the next prime minister through their vote.

Lists achievements of Nawaz; promises much more if reelected

He listed a number of achievements for which he credited his elder brother. “Nawaz Sharif had brought an end to loadshedding,” he claimed, adding that the era of the former prime minister was a “golden period” as it brought prosperity to the country in the form of a network of roads and bridges, foreign investment and CPEC projects.

Former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto initiated the atomic programme but Nawaz Sharif completed it. He claimed that former US president Bill Clinton had offered Mr Nawaz $5bn but he rejected it and made Pakistan an atomic power. The groundbreaking of Bhasha and Dasu dams and the “elimination of terrorism” from the soil was also on Mr Nawaz’s credit, the prime minister claimed.

“I have come to Kasur to remind you of the achievements of Nawaz Sharif. It was he who cultivated amicable relations with neighbouring countries including China, Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

However, he lamented that former PM Mr Khan “destroyed diplomatic relations” with neighbouring countries. He said Mr Khan had also been declared dishonest by court.

Continuing with the criticism of the PTI chief, he claimed Mr Sharif said wheat and sugar scandals were the products of Mr Khan’s era and billions of rupees were wasted and plundered.

He said his government faced unprecedented challenges of inflation and devastating floods. “My government distributed Rs100bn among the flood victims and several hundreds of billions are still required for their rehabilitation.”

He claimed that the reasons for current inflation were the war in Ukraine and rising international commodity and fuel prices. He said he had inaugurated mega projects worth Rs263bn in Punjab which would “bring a breeze of prosperity in the country”.

He vowed that if his party regained power after the elections, it would bring “revolutionary changes” in the agriculture sector, extract minerals worth billions of dollars and equip youth with the latest tools of information technology. The youth programme would be implemented at the federal and provincial levels and more laptops would be given to the students on merit.

Section 144

Interestingly, the prime minister addressed the huge gathering at a time when the Kasur district administration had imposed section 144 of the CrPC in the district that prohibits public gatherings.

The section was imposed for seven days in anticipation of possible protests and rallies following the PTI chairman’s arrest on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2023