Daily Times

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Wednesday vowed to stand by party supremo, reiterating that the interview of Nawaz Sharif to a local newspaper was misreported by India.

The prime minister chaired the parliamentary party meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to take party lawmakers into confidence over the developments following Nawaz Sharif’s statement on the Mumbai attacks.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Abbasi and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Nawaz Sharif at the Punjab House. A private TV channel reported that the current political and security situation of the country came under discussion during the meeting.

Earlier in the day, lawmakers from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) refused to participate in the farewell breakfast hosted by the prime minister. PML-N leader and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar was also absent from the celebratory Halwa Poori session.

Members from the PML-N, Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) attended the breakfast.

Separately, addressing the inaugural ceremony of Polytechnic Institute Maira Begwal, the prime minister reiterated that Pakistan could only achieve progress and prosperity in a democratic system. “The electorate would exercise their right to vote during the upcoming elections by choosing a representative government of their choice for the next five years. The electorate will take a good decision and their verdict will be accepted,” he said.

Abbasi said not only the federal capital, but also throughout the length and breadth of the country, the PML-N emerged as the only party which executed mega energy and infrastructure projects.”There is a long list of such uplift projects completed during the last five years of PML-N government,” he claimed.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the people in the area would massively support the PML-N and its candidates in the upcoming general election.

Published in Daily Times, May 17^th 2018.