PM castigates Imran Khan, promises change with Nawaz Sharif in power

• PML-N seeks Nawaz's return ahead of general elections. 
• He says PML-N will accept public mandate in upcoming polls.
• PM says relief in petrol prices passed on to masses after rupee recovery.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and promised to change the nation's fate with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif at the helm of power for the fourth time.

The PML-N-led coalition government passed a law in June limiting the disqualification of parliamentarians to a maximum of five years, benefiting the PML-N chief, who had been disbarred from running for office for a lifetime.

The party is eyeing Nawaz's return as it considers that his comeback would provide a boost to the PML-N ahead of the elections, set to take place in October-November, as the tenure of the government comes to and end in mid-August.

"Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and the entire leadership of PML-N will change destiny of the country by taking it on the path of progress and prosperity," the premier said while addressing a cheques distribution ceremony under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme.

He said that his party would accept the public's mandate in the upcoming polls, urging the people to make their decisions after looking into certain facts and by juxtaposing the performance of the PML-N governments with that of PTI's four-year saga of destruction.

The prime minister mentioned that PTI’s tenure was tainted with huge corruption scams — including sugar and wheat scams, BRapid Transit Peshawar, Malam Jabba, sale of Toshakhana gifts, an £190 billion UK agency corruption. "No one could deny these stark facts," he added.

While lauding the statesmanship qualities of Nawaz, who is his elder brother and a three-time premier, PM Shehbaz regretted that the former prime minister was removed from power despite the fact that he had ended hours-long crippling load shedding, provided laptops and loans to youth, brought muti-billions China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC) power and road infrastructure projects during 2015.

On the other hand, he said, Khan had a "phobia of PML-N leadership" and the opposition, as day in and day out, he was "hell-bent" on putting them in jails in "fake cases". He said that the PTI chief could not assimilate the revolutionary steps taken by the PML-N government.

The prime minister went on to say that Nawaz and his party had experienced the worst kind of political vendetta, even though they were sent into exile after ouster from power, but unlike the PTI chief, the PML-N supremo never thought of anything against the country.

PM Shehbaz said that Khan, who was brought to power through "fake elections", kept on chanting the corruption charges during his four years in power but failed to prove them.

"When he (Khan) was removed from power corridors through a constitutional manner, he used dirty language and tactics against the state institutions," he added.

Speaking about the recent cut in petroleum prices, he said that the relief had been passed on to the masses in the wake of the strengthening of the rupee against the dollar.

He further stated that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) programme is a challenge for the country instead of relief, but bold decisions will be helpful for stabilising the country’s economy.

— Additional input from APP