Shehbaz warns Imran against 'instigating civil war'

LAHORE – Soon after ousted former prime minister Imran Khan announced he would march on the federal capital Islamabad to rid the country of what he calls the imported government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the nation would not spare Khan if he tries to instigate a civil war in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore after visiting the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI), the premier said that instead of working on development of the country, Khan focused on political vendetta in his tenure. 

Censuring the PTI chairman, the premier said that Khan focused on cornering his opponents instead of building hospitals and roads or working for prosperity of the nation. 

He said that thousands of people lost their means of livelihood but Khan, against his promise of providing 10 million jobs to the masses, could not deliver. 

"Imran Niazi had nothing to do except for hurling abuses at his opponents," he said, adding that the man who claimed he would make a Naya Pakistan could not even provide a single subsidy to the masses.

"Khan is a cold-hearted man. The kind of language he uses embarrasses everyone," PM Shehbaz said. "This man destroyed the moral values of the society."

Speaking about the PKLI, the premier said it was "regrettable" how this Rs20-billion project was "shut down by the PTI government just for the sake of political revenge".

"This hospital will provide paid medical facilities to the affluent class and funds generated from the treatment of rich people will be utilised for free medical treatment of patients belonging to underprivileged backgrounds," the premier said.

Sharif announced that the hospital's board of governors, with Dr Saeed Akhtar as its new chairman, had been reinstated so that the hospital could function smoothly.

He promised to set up a world-class nursing university at the (PKLI) within one year. "Strengthening democracy was the only way for Pakistan to progress," the premier said.