Political opponents need to wait beyond 2018 for their turn: PM Nawaz Sharif

Lahore: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Monday said his political opponents will have to wait beyond the year 2018 for their turn as the people of Pakistan support progress and not anarchy.

Addressing the launch of the National Health Program in the provincial capital of Balochistan here at the Governor’s House, the Prime Minister said his government was committed to change the political culture of the country from that of confrontation to serving the masses.

He said the PML-N government was committed to provide a transparent and corruption-free system in the country and recalled that not a penny of corruption has been proved against any of his governments in his present and earlier two tenures, which were marked with efficiency and high performance.

He was particularly appreciative of the speech of Chief Minister Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri in which he had extended his full support to the PML-N government and warned the political opponents a befitting reply, if they do not desist from conspiracies.

Prime Minister Sharif endorsed views of CM Balochistan who said his political opponents need to wait with patience till 2018. Rather, he said they would have to wait much beyond that period, as the people of Pakistan fully support the pace of progress and development undertaken by the PML-N government.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said certain elements tried to blame him for corruption and said he has set up the judicial commission to probe the allegations and clear the matter once for all. He said he would continue to serve the masses after being exonerated from all such baseless charges.

The Prime Minister earlier inaugurated the scheme that would cover Balochistan. The scheme would cover four districts catering to needs of 178,000 people in Loralai, Quetta, Lasbella and Kech. In the first phase 76,000 people in Quetta would benefit from the insurance scheme.

The Prime Minister who handed over health cards amongst the deserving people said his government would continue to serve the masses, despite efforts of his opponents to create instability and hamper development in the country. He said his government has brought about a change in the political culture where it was going all out, to help the most needy people. He said he and his government desire to do a lot more for the welfare of the people.

However, he said all these dreams cannot materialize as,progress can only be achieved when there was economic and political stability and law and order situation was good. He regretted that amidst the politics of sit-ins and protests the country could not move forward as investors avoid investing funds and industries do not operate at full capacity.

Prime Minister Sharif said his government was working on plans to meet the energy needs of the country by investing heavily in projects to generate electricity and natural gas. He said loadshedding has declined significantly and added by the year 2018 it would be a thing of the past. He said the shortage of natural gas would also end and added that his government would not leave the issue unresolved for the next government. He said all these projects would be completed.

The Prime Minister said the health insurance scheme was launched in Islamabad, aimed at providing quality healthcare to the poorest of the poor across the country. He said the people belonging to low income groups earlier had to spend a huge amount and were forced to spend entire hard earned income on getting medical treatment.

He said earlier the poor people even had to sell their homes to get medical help, but not anymore as now the government would provide them health-care at their doorsteps. He said initially 76,000 people of Quetta would be getting health cards and added that Balochistan was selected because its people were very close to his heart. He said Balochistan was the first province, from where the scheme was being launched. He said the data of health card recipients has been obtained from NADRA and BISP. He said the federal government would fully cooperate with the provincial government in making the project a success.

Nawaz Sharif said the objective of the Health Card was aimed at serving the masses and he was personally supervising the project so that the teething problems, if any, were removed. He said he was serving the masses with a commitment and to earn the blessings of Allah Almighty.

The Prime Minister mentioning the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, said it would open avenues of economic activity,generate employment and help usher in an era of prosperity and development in the country. He mentioned the fast pace construction at Gwadar and said several new road links would connect all far off places of the province with the rest of the country. He said work on motorways was also going ahead at a fast pace and soon Karachi would be linked to Peshawar. He regretted that this should have been done long time back, however his government was working with vigour and zeal to cover the gap.

The Prime Minister said peace was being restored in Karachi while the operation Zarb-e-Azb was wiping out terrorists from the country. He mentioned progress in other areas of economy, including the health, education, agriculture and industrial sectors and said the pace of development and progress would continue unabated.

The National Health Insurance scheme has been launched in 15 districts of the country including Azad Kashmir and would be expanded to other areas of the country in phases.

Minister for Health Saira Afzal Tarar said the scheme would provide quality health care to people of low income groups in select private and government hospitals, without incurring any cost. She said the project launched in collaboration with the federal and provincial government would cover a number of ailments and provide free treatment and medication.

Saira Afzal Tarar said under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the poor of the country would get a ray of hope and would get good health care. She said earlier a large number of people who could not bear the high cost of medical treatment and had to suffer as they ran from pillar to post for the treatment.