Imran demands removal of KP governor

Says free and fair elections will be compromised if Jhagra continues to hold the office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday demanded the removal of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, saying that the process of “free and fair elections will be compromised” if he continued to hold the office.

In a letter to Caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk, Khan also sought transfers of senior bureaucrats at the federal level, and in Punjab and Sindh.

In his letter, Khan wrote, “Three very disturbing anomalies prevailing in the state structures today, which are already adversely impacting the process of the holding of fair and free elections in the country on July 25.”

First, he criticised the “questionable role being played by the K-P governor, who continues to hold financial and administrative powers over the area that was Fata and who was secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz [PML-N]”.

“As he continues to intervene in political affairs of that area — especially through controlling the financial purse strings — and as he continues to play a partisan role in the politics of the entire province, he should be removed immediately,” stated the PTI chief, warning that if he was not removed, “a big question mark will be cast over elections being held in that area”.

Jhagra was appointed by the PML-N in February 2016 and is considered one of the confidantes and trusted party workers, besides Amir Muqam and Pir Sabir Shah in K-P.

Pointing out the second aspect about the ‘fair elections’, Khan wrote that the bureaucracy in the federal government had remained unchanged and “as it is overflowing with the PML-N appointees, these partisan bureaucrats are actively threatening the holding of fair and free elections by covertly seedling to influence the outcome”.

Bureaucracy

The PTI has already demanded the removal of the Nadra chairman and other officials at the provincial level.

In his latest demand, the PTI chief said district administrations in Sindh and Punjab continued to be filled with the Pakistan Peoples Party and the PML-N appointees, respectively.

“They are ensuring that there is no level-playing field for all political parties in the upcoming elections in their provinces,” he said, adding, “The caretaker governments are moving at an ‘extremely slow’ pace – if at all – to rectify the situation in order to ensure free and fair elections.

“They cannot afford to have any shadows of doubt cast over the 2018 general elections. So I will request you take direct and timely action to remove these three major anomalies standing in the way of fair and free elections,” Khan demands of the caretaker PM.

Outside Bani Gala

PTI workers from Punjab and K-P kept pouring in outside Khan’s Bani Gala residence, besides scuffling with each other.

Police have installed a walkthrough gate at the entrance of Bani Gala near the PTI chief’s residence while erecting barbed wires exactly near his house to stop anyone from entering the residence.

Heavy contingent of police was deployed near the fence while workers had stayed under tents and makeshift shelters in the scorching heat. The workers had come from Multan with cooks and food to make up for the stay.