Daily Times

Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said the incumbent government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was taking credit for development schemes and projects launched by the PML-N government.

“Motorways and health cards are all PML-N’s plans. The current government is relaunching our projects and is trying to take credit for those,” Nawaz said while speaking to party leaders at Kot Lakhpat jail. He said agreements were done with Saudi Arabia during the PML-N tenure and that the crown prince had signed aid package with him. “Trade talks with Saudi Arabia were finalised during my tenure. Saudi crown prince finalised aid package with me. It takes time to settle international matters,” he added.

“If we were in power, people would have been travelling in Orange Train. We left Lahore-Multan motorway almost complete for them and they could not even finish it. They could not even complete the Lahore-Multan interchange,” the former prime minister lamented. “There was a web of highways laid down in our tenure in Balochistan. They can take the credit for our plans but they should open them for the public,” he added.

The three-time prime minister expressed concern over rising inflation and the prevailing gas crisis in the country.

About the cases filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Shehbaz Sharif, he said NAB made cases against development projects in Punjab but did nothing against those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Shehbaz set up numerous power plants, while KP could not even made one,” he added. Criticizing former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz said the military ruler enacted NAB law keeping himself in focus. He admitted that in the beginning they had no idea that NAB law would be ‘this dangerous’.

Published in Daily Times, February 15^th 2019.