RAWALPINDI: Former Prime Minister and central convener of the Awam Pakistan Party (APP) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday said that there was dire need to end political hatred and promote rule of law to put the country on development path.

He was addressing the ‘Workers Convention’ organised by the Awam Pakistan Party Rawalpindi City. On this occasion, thousands of workers, including Secretary Awami Pakistan Party Miftah Ismail, Chaudhry Inaam Zafar, Usman Abbasi, Nazir Ahmed Kashmiri, Samina Shoaib, Fatima Atif, Seema Elahi Baloch, and others, participated enthusiastically.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that this party came into existence not because of power politics but to give people their rights.

“Only Awam Pakistan Party is talking about the rights and problems of youth, and the future of Pakistan,” he said.

“We do not have any members in the assembly. Despite this, many people are in touch with us. People are joining our cause on a daily basis,” he said. He said that Pakistan is unfortunate that the majority of the assemblies are of those who were there after spending money.

“Their aim is to earn money in some way or the other and also to make a profit,” he said.

“About 700,000 tons of sugar is produced every year, and the majority of the owners of sugar mills belong to political parties and they deprived people of sugar,” he said.

He said the government knew that there was a shortage of sugar in the country, yet 15 percent of sugar was sold. As many as Rs600 “Six hundred billion rupees went from the pockets of the people to the pockets of the mill owners. Does anyone have the answer? No one cares about the people,” he said.

He said that the work of the federal government is the welfare of the people. Have the education, health, and police systems improved? Trillions of rupees are with the provincial governments. Corruption has increased. The problems of the people are gradually increasing,” he said.

“Will the country develop if the government does not come from the vote of the people? Yesterday, many people were sentenced to 10 to 9 years. If the people attack army installations, it is very wrong. If you sentence an opposition member to thirty years, that case should be tried on TV so that the people can be aware of the facts,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2025