Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that political stability was highly important to achieve economic strength, attract investment, and ensure development and prosperity in the country. “Until there is no political stability, there would not be any economic stability as both are inter-linked with each other,” he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the rehabilitated and widened Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road (previously known as IJ Principal Road). Shehbaz Sharif said in a situation where there was political instability in the country, the political opponents were hatching conspiracies everywhere, spreading false propaganda and misleading the nation; nobody would be ready to invest in the country. Putting the responsibility of current economic crisis on the previous government, the prime minister said it breached its own agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to which the confidence of the Fund in Pakistan shattered and it was now hesitant to resume its agreement. However, he said the current government had met all the conditions of the IMF and hoped that the programme would resume anytime very soon. PM Shehbaz resolved that “under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, we all together would bring the country out of all crises and make it a stable and developed Pakistan.” He said the previous government had ignored development projects and the progress on reconstruction of IJP Road was also going on at a snail’s pace. However, he said current government made it possible to complete it in the stipulated time. Appreciating the team responsible for the project to complete it on time, the prime minister said the project, previously known as IJ Principal Road, had now been named after Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed (Nishan-e-Haidar). He said those nations remained alive and move forward with pride that remembered their martyrs and respected the armed forces. The May 9 incidents ashamed the whole nation, he said adding the martyrs sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country’s security and saved hundreds of thousand children from becoming orphan by making their own children orphans. He said a patriot citizen could not even think of what happened on May 9. The people involved in the incidents were in fact enemies of the country, he added. With respect to ongoing projects in the federal capital, the prime minister informed that all the projects facing delays, would be completed by next month and the electric buses would also arrive here by July 15. He said the metro project was also totally ignored by the previous regime but the current government opened it within days after assuming the charge. He said the facts had proved now that the conspirator just wasted the nation’s precious time by making false allegation of removing his government by a cypher from the United States. He said due to the sincere efforts of current government, the crude oil had been purchased at a price, at least $15 per barrel less than the international price. “Each dollar is important for us at this critical time, we need to minimize inflation and we need to provide maximum relief to the common man,” he said adding despite economic crisis, the government had provided maximum relief to the people. He also appreciated the finance minister Ishaq Dar for presenting a pro-poor budget. He informed that the government had raised the salaries of government employees by 30% to 35% and pensions by 17.5%. With respect to the false allegation by the PTI Chairman, PM Shehbaz said if there was any corruption, the proof should have been presented. “If there is any proof, we will happily present ourselves for the investigation,” he added. Imran Niazi kept on terming his opponents as thieves but he himself had been proved to be guilty of corruption cases in Tosha Khana and Al-qadir Trust cases, he added. He informed that a Solid Waste Management would be introduced in the federal capital very soon. He deplored that the previous government had damaged the whole Solid Waste Management system in Lahore. The prime minister said that the government would give 100,000 laptops to the talented youth and the distribution would start next month. He made it clear that the laptops would be given totally on merit and no reference would be accepted. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the PML-N under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, had eradicated the menace of terrorism from the country. He said overcoming the electricity load shedding was also hallmark of the PML-N government. Former MNA Hanif Abbasi said the current government provided the biggest package of Islamabad history as it announced Rs 80 billion for transport and road projects in one year.