China-Pak investment: PML-Q refuses to support changes in CPEC

Says government should implement May APC’s decision

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid provincial president Intikhab Khan Chamkani has said the party will not support changes in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route.

Chamkani made this statement while addressing PML-Q workers at Peshawar Press Club on Monday. The party will hold protests if any such decisions were taken, he said while demanding the federal government implement decisions taken at the all-parties conference in 2015.

Public enemy

Chamkani said the people of K-P were dealing with inflation, unemployment and unrest; “Depriving them of the CPEC will be like making enemies with the public.” He warned the party will start a movement against change in the CPEC route.

He added they will support the K-P government to secure the rights of the province. At the press club, the party passed a unanimous resolution asking the federal government to implement the May APC’s decision.

The provincial president stated, “K-P has always been ignored and the Nawaz government should work for all provinces.” He said the CPEC holds vital importance as it promises great progress and prosperity. The government should not make the project controversial, he added.

Chamkani demanded all provinces be given equal benefits and facilities so the country could prosper.

He said that the central leadership of the party was in close coordination with the government and made assurances PML-Q would not allow anyone to harm the interests of small provinces.

While criticising the policies of the Nawaz government, PML-Q vice-president Muazzam Butt said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa needed more industrial zones and investment as its people made sacrifices during the ongoing war on terror. He added, “War has badly affected the people of the province, while the Nawaz-led government has allocated economic benefits to other areas.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2016.