Prime Minister praises NA speaker and leader of the opposition

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in his address during the National Assembly's final session on Thursday, thanked Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Leader of Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah for their "leadership and impartial behaviour".

"I would like to thank the speaker for the way the assembly conducted its business over the past five years; you never let the opposition feel that you are partial towards one side and tried your hardest to have consensus in the house over all important matters," said Abbasi.

"I would also like to thank Khursheed Shah, who is also my old friend, for his exemplary leadership," the PM said in praise of the PPP veteran. "In these five years, it was said multiple times that the government would fall  yet Shah sahab always worked in favour of democracy."

Turning to PML-N's performance over the last five years in government, PM Abbasi started listing the ruling party's achievements, including in "improving the security situation since 2013".

"We should analyse the past five years and see how the country was when the [PML-N] government had come in and if there is any change in it now."

There is peace in the country today and Karachi is flourishing again, said the PM. "All crimes have been eradicated from the city and today, only common street crimes are left, like in any other large city in the world."

"The economy is better than it was when we came into power, in spite of all the challenges we faced both external and internal."