Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday once again declared in unequivocal terms that he would not resign on the desire of merely a few thousand people, according to the state-run Radio Pakistan.

Speaking at the inauguration of an oil and gas well at Attock in Punjab province, Sharif said he had been elected by 180 million people.

The whole parliament and political parties stand united for the continuation of the system, he said, adding that the government would continue its forward march for development of the country.

Rejecting allegations of rigging in the 2013 general elections, Nawaz Sharif said the polls were not conducted by his party but by a neutral set up constituted after consensus among the political parties.

He recalled that in 2008 general elections his as well as the nomination papers of his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif were rejected but still his party went into the polls and wholeheartedly accepted the electoral results.

Sharif said despite reservations on the election results “we did not make any hue and cry and open any front against the Pakistan People’s Party.”

However, today long march and sit-in protests had been started against his government which has just completed one year in office, he said, referring to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

The prime minister said the protesting parties were creating impediments in the way of development of Pakistan.

 

Xi’s visit put off

The Chinese president was to visit Pakistan to sign a number of agreements especially on electricity production but this had been postponed due to the acts of a few thousand people, he said.

Sharif said the government has demonstrated utmost patience and tolerance in the current political crisis, otherwise it was not difficult to get the roads cleared from the protesters.

He said the protesting parties should also demonstrate the same spirit and not create obstacles in the country’s development as the entire nation wants improvement in their lives.

Turning to energy crisis, the prime minister said the government is giving foremost priority to overcoming it.

“We have chalked out programmes which will end load shedding in the next three to four years,” he said.

Earlier, Minister for Petroleum Khaqan Abbasi said 220 barrel oil and 17 Million Cubic feet gas on daily basis could be extracted from Soghri-1 well.

He said this well will increase income of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited by five billion rupees.