LAHORE: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday claimed that massive rigging was committed in the 2018 elections due to which PTI government came into power, and which eventually resulted in the halting of development projects.
The prime minister was addressing a ceremony after reviewing the construction work on six-lane overhead bridge of Imamia Colony railways crossing Shahdra N-5.
Bashing the PTI government and blaming it for a number of problems the current government was faced with today, he alleged that corruption increased to such an extent after the 2018 elections and that even police stations were auctioned off.
He said there existed economic challenges but the nation would have to decide whether they would live on foreign debts or to stand on its feet by carving a niche among the comity of nations with honesty, dedication and hard work.
The prime minister expressed the optimism that despite different challenges, Pakistan would be soon out of all difficulties.
If the chronic issue of load shedding, the scourge of terrorism could end, free medicines could be provided to the poor, road infrastructure could be laid, then surely, the country could move on the path of progress and prosperity, he added.
He said that those nations always achieved milestones that took lead with definite decisions over their future.
The country was not created to move on debts and act like beggar because their forefathers and different generations had given sacrifices for the motherland, he added.
The prime minister referred to the terms of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for seeking loan agreement and said that they did every effort to implement them.
Even, they sought bilateral financial support from the friendly nations including China that realized their problems and provided a rollover of $2 billion loan besides, returning back previous debt amount paid back by Pakistan.
The prime minister also expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE had committed a loan of $3 billion.
He lauded the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and the chief of army staff for making efforts in this regard.
The ceremony was attended by Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, parliamentarians, chief secretary, National Highway Authority chairman and relevant authorities.
