Not easy to bring Pakistan back on track: Nawaz

• Nawaz recalls opportunity to form government with JUI-F in 2013.
• Says he turned down Fazlur Rehman to respect PTI's numbers.
• Promises to establish airport, educational institutions in Mansehra.

With around two weeks left for the upcoming February 8 polls, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif Monday lamented that it would not be an easy task to bring Pakistan back on track.

Nawaz's remarks come as major political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), PML-N and others have ramped up their electioneering activities with party leaders taking the helm of their respective election campaigns in their bid to woo the nation of 240 million who will elect their representatives next month.

Addressing a rally in Mansehra, from where the three-time prime minister is contesting on NA-15, the PML-N supremo said that Pakistan has fallen behind in the world and that the country has to be "rebuilt".

Reflecting on his previous tenure as the country's chief executive, the politico underscored that not only his government had restricted the dollar to 104 — against the Pakistani rupee — but had also "eliminated" the loadshedding from the country.

Without taking any names, Nawaz also fired a fresh salvo against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its founder Imran Khan — PML-N's arch-foe and staunch critic — and lamented that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) fell and voted for this "liar".

Recalling the 2013 elections, Nawaz said that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had approached him on forming a coalition government in KP, however, he decided against it in favour of respecting PTI's right to form the government due to their numbers.

"I ask the people of KP, what did they [PTI] do during their 10-year rule," the PML-N supremo said while taking a jibe at the party that ruled the province from 2013 till January 2023.

"These people have ruined this province," he added.

Promising to address rampant inflation, the politico reassured that, if voted into power, his government would ensure the creation of jobs and would see that Mansehra gets its own airport and that universities and colleges are set up in the area.