PESHAWAR:
Disgruntled provincial legislators of the Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) have been assured by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak that corrupt ministers and advisers in the cabinet will not be tolerated, insiders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
PTI officials said Khattak invited members of the pressure group for a meeting at the Officers Mess which lasted for around two hours, adding Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI provincial general secretary Khalid Masood were in attendance along with Khattak.
Despite having been assured by PTI Chairman Imran Khan of prompt redressing of their grievances, the disgruntled PTI lawmakers stuck to their demands and repeatedly questioned the existence of elements in the provincial cabinet allegedly involved in malpractices.
Members of the group have repeatedly linked five people to corruption, said an insider, adding the CM has assured them now that those involved in corruption will be removed from their posts.
The unhappy MPAs accused central PTI leaders Saifullah Niazi, Naeemul Haq and Jehangir Tareen for interfering in issues pertaining to the provincial government and asked Khattak to ensure they do not encroach into their domain. Party sources said the PTI MPAs also expressed reservations against the party’s MNA from Swat, Murad Saeed, for allegedly misguiding Imran Khan against the group’s members.
“Saeed has been conveying to the party chairman that we demand portfolios in the cabinet. He wants to misrepresent the real reason behind our frustration as he has some favourites in the cabinet,” said a member of the pressure group, adding they had refuted any interest in cabinet positions in their meeting with Imran.
Terming Saeed a “talk show boy”, the lawmaker said he should cease spreading baseless information about them and instead concentrate on his constituency and address problems being faced by his constituents.
Another member of the pressure group said a meeting has been scheduled for April 20 with the party chairman where all these issues will be discussed again.
He said the CM has assured them of all out support, adding, “We do not care about our assembly seats. If one of our group members leaves the assembly, the entire group will follow suit,” said the MPA.
When contacted, Saeed said he has nothing to do with the provincial cabinet and termed the allegations against him baseless.
“He [Imran Khan] is a visionary leader and does not need to be conveyed things. I am shocked to hear all this,” Saeed told The Express Tribune.
PTI leader Naeemul Haq, considered a close confidant of the party chief, refused to comment on the issue and said his name was never discussed during the disgruntled members’ meeting with Khattak while Tareen and Niazi could not be contacted despite several attempts.
The news of a pressure group within the party was reportedly triggered by a recent reshuffle in the provincial cabinet as some lawmakers were unhappy over portfolios being given to MPAs who joined PTI after being elected as independent candidates.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2014.
COMMENTS (11)
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@Adnan Siddiqi: The News is reporting regards to this incident. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-244863-Chinese-firm-illegally-exported-500-ton
I would say that merit was use to stop the mining and exploration of this site.
@Adnan Siddiqi: Check out this news item regards to same news: http://www.dawn.com/news/1100283/chinese-investors-threaten-to-move-capital-from-kp-to-balochistan The Company broke the Pakistan Mining law 20 B.
At the end of 5 year, PTI lead government in KPK will turn out to be the winner of governence and in corruption free government.A role model for other provinces.
@Sid: what PML N and co know other then making roads and bridges and have no future vision no vision to build institutions.
@Ak: @Jafri: There's a reason people like you are not in the government. And thank God for that. The problem with PTI is that it's putting people like you in power who know absolutely nothing about the job or more importantly public perception and communication skills. This is why PTI is failing miserably compared to the promises they made. Turning away investors because the government couldn't complete their task of forming a new mining policy is astonishingly tragic. The fact that all problems in pakistan go away if the kickbacks are high speaks volumes. And yes KPK is no different even today. The reason Sierra Leone is still a very poor backward country even though it possesses one of the largest mineral and gemstone reserves is because investors, local or foreign, are reluctant and the government is incompetent enough to not care about it.
@Ak: @Jafri: There's a reason people like you are not in the government. And thank God for that. The problem with PTI is that it's putting people like you in power who know absolutely nothing about the job or more importantly public perception and communication skills. This is why PTI is failing miserably compared to the promises they made. Turning away investors because the government couldn't complete their task of forming a new mining policy is astonishingly tragic. The fact that all problems in pakistan go away if the kickbacks are high speaks volumes. And yes KPK is no different even today. The reason Sierra Leone is still a very poor backward country even though it possesses one of the largest mineral and gemstone reserves is because investors, local or foreign, are reluctant and the government is incompetent enough to give care about it.
@Adnan Siddiqi
Chinese DONOT own Pakistan that they have to take every single penny and minerals out of it without any check and balance. They have to clearly explain that how much amount are they extracting, their profits and revenues. Its the law in every country of the world. For far too may years, the outisiders are being allowed to take away all the profits and revenues without asking anything.
@Adnan Siddiqi: Stopping illegal acts from happening is visionary! Open the articles link and read it.
@fawad:
Care to enlighten us on the virtues of merit associated to this news also:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1100434/chinese-mining-company-plans-shifting-to-balochistan
So much for the vision of Great IK!
The only reason the pressure group mentioned in the media was that health ministry was given to some other party. I guess our politicians are not used to the term 'merit' and it will take time for them to digest pti's style of politics.
No matter how much you hide the real reason. We know you wanted high portfolios and ministries. One of the leader of the pressure group said on TV that what is the purpose of giving the Health ministry to a small party like AJIP. Shame on those MPA's join cannot follow the vision of IK.