Hafizabad: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday called on national institutions to show mutual respect, as he launched the PM’s National Health Programme in Hafizabad district.

The premier railed against the labelling of public representatives as mafia, thieves or dacoits and said his administration respected all national institutions by virtue of them being constitutional bodies.

Abbasi said this during a ceremony where he distributed health insurance cards to those in need in the various localities of the district and said the cards would ensure free treatment at the best hospitals in the area, with the treatment threshold being set at Rs300,000 (Dh9,931).

The ceremony was attended by Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting; Saira Afzal Tarar, Federal Health Minister; Arshad Leghari, Minister of State; Khawaja Salman Rafique, Punjab Health Minister; Dr Musaddik Malek, Special Assistant to the PM; Mian Shahid Bhatti, Member of the National Assembly (MNA); Afzal Tarar, PML-N leader; and other senior officials from ministries and divisions allied with the programme.

The prime minister said the people had already given their verdict on Nawaz Sharif’s politics in the recent election in Lodhran.

“You will see the repetition of this decision in July elections too,” he added.

Abbasi said Nawaz Sharif had, over the last two years, been vilified across the country, judging by the number of cases he was linked to. Adding that representing the public was not an easy task, Abbasi urged the people to judge for themselves as to who would be capable of representing them the right way while dealing with national issues to their satisfaction.

Abbasi said the moral authority of the candidate should be judged, adding that it was impossible to serving the public’s interests and one’s own at the same time.

He said under Nawaz Sharif’s leadership, the PML-N had always resolved national and public issues, leading to the country’s development.

The prime minister claimed that the projects accomplished in the last five years exceeded those undertaken over the last 65 years.

Even the projects executed during the past five years were more than those done during last 65 years, he added.

Abbasi stressed that the PML-N government had added 10,000 megawatts (MW) out of a total 17,000MW to the national grid, besides ensuring surplus gas supplies and helping the country to export 0.6 million tons of fertiliser — a remarkable feat, given that the country used to import one million tons of the commodity.

The prime minister said the government kept up its journey of development despite all conspiracies and sit-ins.