‘K-P ignored in new finance bill’

QWP chief slams PTI for failing to come good on promise of change

PESHAWAR: The chief of a major party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday rejected the federal budget announced on Friday, flaying the federal government for ignoring the province.

The comments echo those of traders in the province who have similarly expressed their dissatisfaction with the budget.

Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, while addressing a public gathering in Swabi on Sunday, said that the books for the Rs5.25 trillion budget had contradicted the government’s claims of earmarking projects for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), warning that it would further aggravate the sense of deprivation amongst the residents of the province and keep it in a grip of crises.

He said that Pashtuns have rendered enormous sacrifices for the development of the country, however, their rights remain unfulfilled by the federal government which was not acceptable.

To make his point, he pointed out how there was no allocation in the budget to compensate the militancy-affected people in K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

Sherpao dismissed the budget estimates as an eyewash, adding that the government had failed to provide any relief to the public.

Instead, he suggested that the government should have announced major initiatives to control the ongoing energy crises, additional measures in K-P under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rehabilitation of the war-affected tribal areas, the merger of Fata and K-P. He termed the hike in prices of petroleum products and commodities was a bomb for the impoverished masses.

The QWP chief further said that he believes that the budget would actually destroy rather than improve the economy of the country.

He urged the federal government and the leadership of the ruling party to strengthen their bonds with the public and help resolve problems of Pashtuns to bring peace and stability in the region.

Sherpao also reserved criticism for the outgoing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for adopting a step-motherly attitude towards its own people.

He added that it was unfortunate how the past three governments in the province from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), to the Awami National Party (ANP) and the PTI had failed to fulfill the promises they had made to the people before the elections and stated that they were responsible for the destruction of the province.

Instead, he accused the governments of the MMA and ANP of plundering public resources.

He went on to accuse the PTI-led government in K-P of promising to bring massive changes in the province but have failed to deliver on their promise, which had exposed their credentials and proved that the party led by Imran Khan only relies on lip service.

Referring to the claims made by Imran that his government had built around 350 dams, Sherpao asked, “Where are these dams and how much electricity do they generate?”

He added that wrong economic policies of the PTI-led provincial government had driven the province and its people into debt.

Moreover, he criticised the PTI government for failing to adequately present the provincial government’s case for CPEC.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2018.