“They (political opponents) wish to sabotage and divert the government’s attention from development. The people of Pakistan have given us their mandate and with Allah’s help, we will complete our tenure,” Nawaz said with a tone of defiance as he addressed a large gathering of party leaders and workers near Rohri by-pass, some 10 kilometres from Sukkur after unveiling the Rs294 billion Sukkur-Multan section of the motorway on Friday afternoon.
He said terrorists wanted to disrupt, sow chaos, and cause law and order situation, pushing Pakistan back to the dark ages.
“A similar objective was being pursued by those who stage sit-ins, cause agitation and hinder country’s march ahead,” the premier said pointedly.
Nawaz and his government have been under pressure from the opposition to resign and probe allegations of corruption ever since thousands of documents were leaked in early April from Panamanian law firm Mossack Foncesca. The documents show how the prime minister’s family, including three scions, along with some of the world’s most powerful people, had secreted away their money in offshore holdings.
While the premier has maintained his innocence, pointing to past anti-corruption probes in which no wrongdoing was found, he bowed to the opposition’s demand of creating a judicial commission to probe the offshore accounts.
Without naming the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Nawaz said that had there been no dharna, the Sukkur-Multan motorway would have started much earlier. He also lamented how his ambitious development plans for regional connectivity were interrupted during the 1990s.
“I dreamt about constructing motorways back in 1990 and started materialising it, but what happened in 1999, the process of developing Pakistan stopped,” Nawaz said while referring to the 1999 coup by former dictator General Pervez Musharraf. “Pakistan would have been turned into a great country by now.”
He added that after returning to power in 2013, he sought to resume those projects but his opponents were against these projects.
“[Syed] Khursheed Shah sahab, we are building a bridge in your area, while you are demanding my resignation,” Nawaz said while referring to Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly who was elected from NA-199 Sukkur.
Shah’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PTI have been at the forefront of demanding Nawaz’s resignation over the Panama Papers.
Nawaz reiterated that he had not pilfered a single cent from the exchequer in his nine years in government, adding that even Musharraf was not able to prove corruption charges against him.
Referring to his government’s achievements, Nawaz said the law and order situation in the country and Karachi in particular had improved.
He further claimed that power and gas load-shedding have reduced considerably with tariffs down by 30%, and vowed that it would be eliminated by 2018.
Claiming that he was not afraid of anybody, Nawaz said he tried his best to strengthen the country’s defence hence his government proceeded with the nuclear tests in 1998.
Earlier, Nawaz broke ground for the 393-km long Sukkur-Multan highway. Starting from Multan, the six-lane motorway will pass through Jalalpur Peerwala, Ahmed Pur East, Ubaro, Pano Aqil before terminating at Sukkur. It will comprise 54 bridges including one major bridge on River Sutlej, 12 service areas, 10 rest areas, 11 interchanges, 10 flyovers and 426 underpasses.
Noting that the project was part of the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he added that work on the 296 km long Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway will also start soon.
The prime minister also announced construction of a new bridge on River Indus worth Rs6.5 billion which would replace the 125-year old Lance Downe bridge which will now be conserved.
Read : Girti hui deewar ko aik dhaka aur dho, BBZ demands Nawaz’s resignation
