Islamabad, Oct 16 (IANS) : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday expressed his firm resolve to overcome the challenges of terrorism, extremism and energy crisis during the term of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government with the support of the people.

Addressing PML-N parliamentarians, party workers and people from various walks of life after offering Eid-ul Adha prayers in Lahore Wednesday, the prime minister said that his party took charge of the government at a very difficult time, the Associated Press of Pakistan(APP) reported. 

“By the grace of Allah almighty, we are determined to make a bright future of Pakistan through hard work to come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people” APP quoted him as saying. 

Sharif said the government has taken all the political parties on board for preparing a common agenda to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country. 

The prime minister said the government adopted the dialogue process to restore peace in the country and hoped that the effort would succeed. 

He said the energy crisis has become a major challenge which badly affected the economy and added that the government was fully committed to overcoming it during its five-year tenure.

Referring to the recent increase in electricity rates, Sharif said he approved the hike with a heavy heart as there was no way out. 

He said electricity rates would be reduced after new projects begin generating power. 

He added that the government had launched a drive against power theft to overcome the shortage of electricity. 

Sharif said the government inherited a number of challenges from the previous regimes. 

However, the PML-N is determined to bring the country out of the various crises like terrorism, lawlessness, energy shortfall and a faltering economy, he added. 

Sharif lamented that no ruler in the last 13 years had evolved a national strategy to overcome these problems which had pushed the country into a critical state.

“We have a national agenda to eliminate terrorism from every area and restore peace to bring stability and prosperity in the country” the prime minister maintained.

He urged the nation to come forward to strengthen the government’s hands in its efforts to bring peace,stability and prosperity to the country. 

Former president Rafiq Tarar, ex-director general of the ISI Javed Nasir, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and ex-IGP Rana Maqbool Ahmad were among those present on the occasion.