In his maiden inaugural assembly session, Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Shareef acknowledged the concerns of the country, which are pushing the nation towards poverty.
He accepted that the country was reduced to its knees, owing to an unstable economy. Shareef said that his term would start while the government is suffering a fiscal deficit of more than one trillion rupees.
Shareef expressed his concern over paying salaries to the armed forces. “How will we pay the salaries for the armed forces and civil servants?” he asked.
He emphasised the hardship of debt repayment, claiming that the government was forced to pay billions of rupees in interest alone, thereby suggesting that the state-owned enterprises, such as Pakistan International Airlines, were losing billions of rupees.
The second-time prime minister pledged to set the country on the path of progress. “Though it is easier said than done, we will fulfil our task,” he added, while stating that terrorism will come to a halt under the previously agreed National Action Plan to combat extremism.
“I don’t want to set any deadline but due to various steps we will take, the positive results will start pouring in after a year,” said Shareef, who remembered the sacrifices of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s maternal grandfather.
He also promised to expand the network of “one window” export zones throughout all four provinces and to work tirelessly to keep all of his commitments.
“Return to the good old days of development!” Onward and upward. “Nawaz Ka vision, Shehbaz Ka mission,” the PML-N wrote in a post on X, under a photo of both leaders.
The new parliament’s session began amid commotion and sloganeering by PTI-backed members.
He blamed his adversaries, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, for destroying national institutions and army installations on May 9, 2018, when Imran Khan supporters staged a violent protest over his detention in an alleged corruption case.
Shehbaz iterated that individuals guilty of the May 9 tragedy will be held accountable, and innocents would be spared.
He questioned why Imran Khan submitted a letter to the International Monetary Fund, claiming it amounted to seeking foreign meddling in the country’s affairs and sought Opposition’s support to overcome economic concerns.
He will take the oath of office today at the Presidential Mansion in Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Shehbaz previously served as the prime minister of a coalition administration from April 2022 until August 2023, when Parliament was dissolved for national elections.
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