Shahbaz says cantonment board polls spelled 'death of PTI's politics'

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September 18, 2021

"The cantonment board is where PTI was born, and it lost the elections there," PML-N President Shahbaz says


PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said the September 12 cantonment board elections spelled the "death of PTI's politics".

"The cantonment board is the place where PTI was born, and it lost the elections there — marking the death of its politics," the PML-N president said, while addressing a workers convention in Sialkot.

Shahbaz said a "majority" of the voters in Punjab had opted for the PML-N. "PTI is installing its plaques on the projects of PML-N [...] they talk about establishing the 'state of Madina', but their actions are the opposite," he said.

The Opposition leader said people had voted for PML-N "in line with their conscience", in response to the PTI's policies. "In the last three years, people have been burdened with surging inflation."

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"There is no doubt that there was no interference in cantonment board elections," Shahbaz said, claiming that people were recalling the time of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif when medicines were provided for free in hospitals.

Reminding the prime minister of his earlier statements, he said: "PM Imran Khan used to say that if the dollar goes up, even by a rupee, then the prime minister is corrupt; if the electricity bills witness a rise, then the prime minister is corrupt."

He regretted that despite being a nuclear power, "Pakistan roams about with the begging bowl in its hand".

The PML-N president said the price of 1kg sugar had stayed below Rs52 during their tenure, while the current regime has taken the rate to Rs108-110. "In three years, sugar worth billions of rupees has been imported [...] the economy, in their hands, has been destroyed."

Shahbaz claimed PML-N would win the next general elections, demanding that the polls be held in a free and fair manner. "If the elections are not held in this manner, then we will go the legal route, which is our right."

The PML-N president said the country is "in need of rule of law and of civil supremacy".

Shahbaz 'not in his senses'

Responding to Shahbaz's comments, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said the PML-N president was "not in his senses".

Hitting out at Shahbaz, he said the Opposition leader was lamenting about inflation while wearing a Rs10.5 million wristwatch.

"How can you talk about inflation when you are residing in a palace? Experience the heat that a poor man does," the minister told Shahbaz.

Faraz also asked Shahbaz to explain how his bank accounts had "increased" while PML-N was in power.

PML-N sweeps Punjab

The PML-N emerged as the largest party in Punjab by winning 51 of the 113 wards in the province, according to the unofficial results of the cantonment board elections.

As per the unofficial results of the 113 wards, PML-N won 51 seats, followed by PTI with 28 seats. Independent candidates emerged victorious on 32 seats in the province.

Jamaat-e-Islami, meanwhile, managed to secure two seats in the province, while PPP failed to win even a single seat across the province.

In the Multan Cantonment Board, independent candidates grabbed nine of the 10 seats. However, the remaining one seat was secured by the PML-N candidate.

PTI emerges as biggest winner overall

PTI emerged as the biggest winner, overall, in the cantonment board elections.

According to the preliminary, unofficial results, PTI obtained 63 seats, closely followed by PML-N which won 59. Independent candidates bagged 52 seats.

Among the Opposition parties, PPP won 17, the Jamaat-e-Islami seven and Awami National Party two. Of the allied parties, MQM won 10, whereas Balochistan Awami Party secured two.



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