Nawaz Sharif to lead PML-N campaign for next general elections, says Ahsan

Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will soon return to the country and would lead the campaign of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the next general elections.

He stated this while talking to media persons after inaugurating a new research centre at the Ojha Campus Dow University of Health Sciences.

“Nawaz Sharif is our leader while it has now been proven that the conspiracy hatched against him in 2017 was in fact an intrigue against the country,” he said.

He said that the injustice done in the case of Nawaz Sharif would soon be undone as the PML-N leader would return to the country and would lead the campaign of his party for the next general polls.

To a question, the federal minister said that no one had raised any objection to giving the post of senior vice-president of the PML-N to Maryam Nawaz. He said Maryam Nawaz was an asset to the party as she courageously led the campaign of the party during the harsh regime of Imran Khan.

He said that although the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had won 14 seats of the National Assembly from Karachi in the 2018 general elections, in the latest local government polls it had faced a crushing defeat in the city. He said that although none of the PML-N’s lawmakers belonged to Karachi, even then it had secured nine seats in the latest local government polls. “This should be considered a success for our party as it has encouraged us to secure victories in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the same manner,” he said.

Iqbal said that the next general elections would be held in the country in October 2023 after the upcoming census drive. He said the decision of PTI Chairman Imran Khan to dissolve provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had intensified instability in the country. He advised PTI chairman to end his negative politics.

He said Khan now wanted to destabilise the National Assembly in the same manner he had dissolved the two provincial assemblies.

He said the collective political leadership of Pakistan should agree to sign a charter of economy and avoid any sort of adventurism in national politics.

Earlier, the federal planning and development minister said effective use of biotechnology could help in serving the downtrodden communities in the best possible manner so much so that up to 80 million people around the world daily wouldn’t go to bed with empty stomachs.

He stated as he addressed a ceremony to launch the “Advanced Molecular Genetics and Genomics Disease Research and Treatment Centre” at the Ojha Campus of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS).

He said the effective application of biotechnology could also save the lives of up to 40,000 oppressed people around the world who otherwise would die of hunger.

The federal minister said that after visiting different research and clinical laboratories of the DHUS he had come to the conclusion that the academic future of Pakistan was very bright. He said a little more hard work could enable the DUHS to join the coveted list of the top 100 universities in the world. “The Higher Education Commission will extend the fullest support if Dow University makes progress while keeping in view this target,” he said.

He said effective use of biotechnology could create new development prospects, bring revolution to the health sector but also revolutionise a number of fields directly related to public service, including industries.

“On the basis of these facts one could say with surety that future wars wouldn’t be fought on the battlefields, as instead the classrooms and research labs would serve as the modern war theatres. A nation with strong labs and lecture rooms would win the battles, while a nation with weak academic institutions would remain in shambles,” he said.

He said that methods of smart farming could easily be adopted by using biotechnology to cope with the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture.

Iqbal said that in the near future biotechnology would play an effective role in diagnosing and treating cancer patients. “We have no option but to enhance our expertise in this field.”

He said Pakistan was under an obligation to build a strong ecosystem of learning and innovation infrastructure. He said Pakistan had been lagging behind regional countries like India and Bangladesh due to continuing political instability and inconsistency in policies.

He mentioned that work had been started on the newly established disease research centre of the DUHS in the year 2020 during the previous regime of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. “We didn’t stop funding for this project initiated in the previous regime and today this centre has come into existence.”

The federal minister announced that the federal government would reserve funds in the next budget for building a girls’ hostel and an auditorium at the DUHS.

DUHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohammad Saeed Quraishy thanked the HEC and alumni of the Dow Medical College for establishing the new research facility at the university.

He said the DUHS would establish academic and research linkages in advanced fields of medicine with Oxford University.