Politics not one-day or test match; needs vision : PM Nawaz Sharif

Lahore : Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday said politics was not a one-day or five-day
test match as it required sobriety and vision for being all about public service, not commotion.

Terming politics of an opposition party as `dirty’ and `theatrical’, he said : “Politics is not a theatre, one-day or test match which creates commotion just for sake of publicity.”
“Politicking at the container is never called a politics.The sobriety I talk about requires a vision. It teaches to think before you speak,” the prime minister remarked addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Shorkot-Khanewal section of M-4 Motorway between Multan and Faisalabad here.

He said he always remained extra carefull in selection of words, contrary to a opposition party which used derogatory language. It also used improper words during its electioneering in Azad Kashmir elections but people showed maturity and outrightly rejected this `dirty’ politics, he added.

Governor Punjab Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana, Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Sun Weidong, Parliamentary Secretary Communications Mian Alam Dad Laleka, Chairman National Highway Authority Shahid Ashraf Tarar,Member National Assembly Sahibzada Nazeer Sultan also attended the ceremony, besides a huge public gathering.

The Chairman NHA briefed the prime minister on 65-kilometre section of Shorkot-Khanewal Motorway that would be completed within 20 months, costing Rs 22 billion and mark the completion of 240-km
M-4 Motorway. This road link would provide a shorter and direct connection between southern port cities of Karachi and Gwadar with the north of country. Besides boosting trade, the motorway would reduce transportation cost and time from the textiles hub Faisalabad in Central Punjab to Multan – a major trade centre of Southern Punjab.

The NHA chief said Shorkot-Khanewal section was divided into two packages including Shorkot-Dinpur (31 kms) and Dinpur-Khanewal (34 kms) to ensure its timely completion.

The prime minister said they (PTI) were not getting any support for their much-trumpeted movement because the people needed only the politics for progress, prosperity and alleviation of poverty and literacy. The prime minister broke ground for the motorway and said the government had saved Rs 4 billion of public money from this road contract recalling a historic saving of Rs 100 billion from the contracts of three LNG-based plants.

Cost escalation of projects from Rs 10 billion to Rs 50 billion had been a practice in the past that had now been abandoned, he added.Pointing at a briefing chart, he also informed the audience about the countrywide network of motorways worth Rs 850 billion, being developed by his government.He said the previous governments failed to expand Peshwar-Islamabad-Lahore motorways developed by his
government till 1999. “Why these (motorways) were not expanded”. Why only we are taking it forward ? Why no one else thought about the road infrastructure ? Rather the country was dragged
into darkness, what to talk of roads construction,” he said referring to the energy crisis, what he also reiterated to overcome by 2018.

He said contrary to the previous notions of bankruptcy and failed states about Pakistan, the country’s economy has taken a turnaround with record high foreign exchange reserves and established currency value. Even the international institutions and reputed international newspapers and magazines were also acknowledging this positive trend, he added.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said whole country including Balochistan, KPK, Sindh, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan would benefit from the road network, being developed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which was an unprecedented gift from China worth US dollar 46 billion.

He said the government was equally serving all sectors including farmers, industrialists and common man and added the prices of fertilizers would be further reduced for uplift of the agriculture sector.

Nawaz Sharif said the motorway and GT Road would also be linked to each other to facilitate the people and for easy transportation of agricultural produce.”This is our vision. No one else had such a vision. This is for you, for the people of Pakistan. This did not start from here, but from China border,” he said.
He said the power plants were also being developed apace including the steps being taken to overcome the gas shortage.
The government was not thinking of just for 2018 or next election but it was thinking for next fifty years, he added.
Referring to the development of motorways from across the country, the prime minister said Gwadar would be made an international city by developing a port or an airport.