Daily Times

ASHGABAT: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he had not contested election to resign.

“I have not contested election for the sake of tendering resignation. I have not done any job which is detrimental to democracy,” he said this while talking to reporters. He held that nomination papers in respect of him and his brother Shahbaz Sharif were rejected in 2008.

“I participated in an election which was supervised by PML-Q but even then I did not demand resignation from anyone,” he added. He went on to say that his party cooperated with other provincial governments and did not form government in Balochistan despite their success in the polls.

He underlined, “When I came to power then there was anarchy in the country. Today’s Pakistan is better than Pakistan of yester years. Terrorism has been eliminated. Economy is growing day by day. The entire world is praising it. Government is working on top priority basis to rein over load shedding. This will also be eliminated once for all till the end of the next year. Dream of a Roshan Pakistan will come true. We did long march for restoration of judiciary,” he said.

He said harm was caused to the country due to “politics of one party”. One political party is doing politics to take the country backward instead of taking forward.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is returning to the politics of the 90s. Charter of democracy could not work well.

On Saturday, Nawaz returned to Pakistan after concluding his two-day visit to Turkmenistan.

He visited Turkmenistan on the invitation of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. During his stay in Ashgabat, Nawaz led Pakistan delegation to the first ever Global Conference on Sustainable Transport which was held under the auspices of the United Nations.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Turkmenistan co-hosted the conference and attended by around 1,500 participants, including heads of state, government, ministers, private sector CEOs, civil society leaders and the UN officials.

The conference discussed promotion and role of sustainable transport towards achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Nawaz held a bilateral meeting with the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to dicuss bilateral ties. On the sidelines of conference, the Prime Minister also held a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

During the meeting, he reiterated Pakistan’s desire for deepening engagement with Afghanistan. He also stressed on the need for enhancing bilateral political interaction, security coordination, trade and transit, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.

The two leaders had a cordial exchange of views regarding efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and strengthening of relations between the two countries. Emphasising upon the politically negotiated settlement through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process as the most viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan would continue its serious efforts for facilitating the peace process, including the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG).