Senators elected thru unfair means, do not represent people : PM Abbasi

Lahore : Stressing the need for clean politics, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Saturday expressed his resolve to confront those who had allegedly resorted to unfair means to get themselves elected in recent Senate election.

He said the PML-N always strove for clean politics for the future of the country and was resolved to confront all dirty ploys in politics.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating 1410 MW Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project, the prime minister said those, who had used unfair tactics in the Senate election, did not deserve to represent the will of the people.

He said the PML-N had never encouraged such tactics and was once again emerged as the only party whose candidates were elected without spending a single penny.

The prime minister said : “On oath, PML-N senators-elect can say that they had not lured members of assemblies through such unfair tactics. The party never used abusive language against anyone as it stood for decency and order in the political arena.”

He said the PML-N was ready for a consensus candidate in the Senate elections and was willing to support Raza Rabbani.

He said the PML-N always strove for a clean leadership as the clean politics was sine quo non for the progress and prosperity of the country. “The PML-N will confront such evils in politics as it did not want to bring bad name to the country and the politics” he added.

President Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister for Water Resources Syed Javed Ali Shah, Minister of State for Information Maryam Aurangzeb, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz and Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing and a large number of envoys were present on the occasion.

The prime minister said only the people could decide the fate of governments and no one else. The people had decided in 2103 and now would exercise their right in July this year.

He expressed his optimism that the democratic system would thrive and the country would continue its journey towards progress and prosperity which was the manifesto of PML-N under the leadership of its quaid Nawaz Sharif.

The prime minister said when the PML-N government came to power the country was facing daunting challenges of energy crises in the shape of crippling load shedding and gas shortage.

But it faced the challenges and brought about a total financial stability and economic turnaround with a string of development projects, he said and cited Golan Gol, Neelum Jhelum, Tarbela and others power projects.

The prime minister said from 1999 to 2103, there had been different governments but none among them took the responsibility to address these issues. Under PML-N government, a vast network of motorways of more than 1500 kms
was being completed whereas various other energy and infrastructure projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC) would further usher in an era of rapid progress and prosperity for the countrymen and had started yielding
results.

The prime minister said when the PML-N came into power, the country was facing daunting challenges of energy starvation in shape of crippling power outages and gas shortage.

The PML-N government not only took initiatives to address the three issues but also completed a string of development projects. About 10,000 MW power was added to the national grid, he added.

He said today no area of the country faced load-shedding except those where power theft continued. The government had taken steps to eliminate such issues, he added.

Prime Minister Abbasi credited the Water and Power Development Authority chairman, his team and the partner companies for timely completion of the project at a time when the country would require peak power consumption.

He also expressed his gratitude to the World Bank for financing the project.

Minister for Water Resources Javed Ali Shah and WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Muzammil Hussain also spoke on the occasion.