Sharif criticises PTI after re-elected as PML-N President

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), saying that its leadership has spent all its time on containers and dancing instead of serving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In a veiled reference to the PTI chief Imran Khan, Sharif said, "Today the people of KP are searching for their elected leader. They are searching for those who promised them a 'Naya Pakistan' but they are only found on containers."

"Had you focused on your province, people would be praising you, but the situation now is such that you need months of effort to organise a gathering and to get people to attend it," he added.

The Dawn quoted Sharif as saying, "Citizens will patronise those who they believe will work for the development of Pakistan."

He noted that the PTI will be washed of KP by 2018 and PML-N will rule the province after the next general election.

Claiming that when he was elected the Prime Minister, people used to ask him why he was so worried, they used to ask him why he doesn't smile anymore, Sharif said that he forgot how to smile due to the weight of my responsibilities. He had made a promise to the people, but how would it happen? This worry was eating him away."

Thanking China for their help, the Prime Minister said, "We didn't have money for a single power plant. We needed dollars. If we put up one plant, we wouldn't have enough money for another, and you need lots of power plants to end the power shortage. I would like to thank our friend China from the bottom of my heart," he said, for contributing to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

In an apparent reference to the PTI, he said that these people claim they will come onto the streets and 'jam' Islamabad. We are the people who will continue building roads and they will keep wandering on the streets.

Making a comparison between the PML-N and PTI, Sharif said that one has been has been given a chance to work for Pakistan's progress, while the other has got the mandate to sing and dance on containers, to wander on streets and to hurl abuse.

Earlier in the day, Nawaz Sharif was re-elected unopposed as president of the PML-N during an intra-party election.

Senior party leader Raja Zafarul Haq was elected as the chairman of the party while Sartaj Aziz, Sir Anjam Khan, Yakoob Khan and Changaz Marri were elected senior vice presidents of the party.

Pervaz Rashid was elected as the secretary finance.

Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal headed the five-member election committee which had received and scrutinised the nomination papers.