Former ANP lawmaker Aurangzeb Khan joins PTI

K-P chief minister lashes out at MMA for failing to live up to promises

PESHAWAR: A former member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly and leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) Aurangzeb Khan on Monday announced that he was leaving his party to join the ruling Pakistan Tekhreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Aurangzeb announced his plans in a ceremony held at Chief Minister House on Monday.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak used the opportunity to launch his first verbal attack on the recently-revived Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).



“MMA got votes to form a government because of the [US] attack on Afghanistan. They cannot form a government again,” Khattak said.

“PTI will return to power in the coming elections,” he stated categorically in the news conference.

The chief minister continued that the MMA had done nothing for Islam during their tenure even though the people had voted for them in the name of Islam.



“There was no legislation for Islam during the MMA government,” he alleged, adding that his government did what MMA could not do in their rule for Islam.

“We banned interests on loans. We even started stipends for Imams,” Khattak claimed triumphantly.

Regarding the budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, the chief minister declared that the ruling party was not in favour of presenting the budget and that they need the support of the opposition to present one.



Khattak also vented his anger over the criticism of the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The chief minister claimed that the project would be amongst the fastest to be completed.

“BRT Peshawar is the fastest such project in the world but certain people are propagating it negatively for political gains,” he said, adding that other BRT projects in the country cannot be compared with the Peshawar BRT.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2018.