Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) on Monday launched campaign for the July 25 general elections from Karachi, with party president and former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif pledging to fulfill all promises the party will make ahead of the upcoming polls.

Addressing a ceremony after reaching the city on a two-day visit, Shehbaz said that his party ruled Pakistan for the past five years and handed over the leadership to caretaker government last month which is the best achievement for democracy in the country. “There is almost no loadshedding in country.Peace hasalmost returned to Karachi,” the PML-N president said, adding that his party performed to the best of its capabilities in the past five years.” Dharnas, however, only wasted people’s time,” he said, in a jibe at political rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Shehbaz assured the gathering that if voted to power, PML-N will resolve all four main issues of Karachi: clean drinking water, transportation, electricity and waste management. He said the PML-N government will ensure supply of clean potable water to every residential unit in Karachi within next three years incoordination with the provincial and the city governments. The PML-N government at the centre will also help resolve the issue of collection and disposal of solid waste of the port city within six months through modern and scientific arrangements. It will also come up with long-term projects to strengthen public transport system and infrastructure in Karachi, he said.

“Karachi needs large desalination plants for providing clean water to the entire population. Also, more flyovers and underpasses are needed, otherwise the city will be completely jammed after a few years,” he said, while speaking at a meeting with business community at the Federation House.

Shehbaz said that after coming into power, his party will restore the glory of the ‘city of lights’. “Karachi has great potential to become an international centre for economic and social activities. We accept our responsibility … Karachi has been neglected in past,” he remarked. Recognizing the importance of Karachi, he said, this time PML-N has launched its political campaign from Karachi.

To a question, Shehbaz said the next PML-N government will take innovative steps for promotion of trade and industry in the country. “These will include one-window operation facility for the traders and investors. For this purpose, an authority will be formed through the parliament. The government will also focus on international standard research and development for high economic growth,” he added.

Speaking to reporters outside the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Shehbaz said if the PML-N is voted into power, it will rid the city of its garbage heaps in six months besides addressing the city’s water woes in three years. He also called for promoting the use of public transport to save time.” Public transport is always a critical component of a growing economy worldwide,” he said. “Karachi won’t be able to develop to its full potential if its basic rights are not guaranteed,” he said, adding, “I will make Karachi like Paris … I am promising that I will make this metropolis the most beautiful city of South Asia.”

The PML-N president promised to provide employment to the youth after imparting vocational training to them.”We will also establish a 500-bed hospital in the city within a time span of a year,” he said. The PML-N candidate for Karachi’s NA-249 said his party wanted to contest the upcoming polls on the basis of performance. He said that tanker mafia rules in Karachi and citizens are suffering from acute water shortage. “Like Lahore, we will give Karachi mass transit projects including metro bus and orange line metro train. Karachi is the gateway to Pakistan … the country cannot succeed without providing its financial hub infrastructure that attracts investors. Our vision for Pakistan’s economy begins with this city,” he added.

Shehbaz said the immediate solution for water shortage in the country was Bhasha Dam. “The government invested Rs1 billion in the project,” he claimed, adding the PML-N would not compromise on ‘national unity’ on the issue of Kalabagh Dam.

Published in Daily Times, June 26^th 2018.