Major events that defined 2022 in K-P

From devastating floods to resurging militancy and ruling PTI going on collision course , the year proved chaotic

PESHAWAR:

The year 2022 proved chaotic and politically volatile for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly after the ruling PTI in the province saw its fall in the centre after its chairman Imran Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence.

The tremors were severely felt in the province –a stronghold of the PTI chief – and hobbled the provincial government’s ability to function with a rainbow coalition comprising arch-rivals calling shots in the centre.

Following its end in the federal government, the PTI struggled to get financial resources from the PDM-led government. Besides, it also lost its governor in the province.

The K-P government also accused the centre of pushing the province into bankruptcy by withholding its due share in federal transfers and net hydel profit as well as allocations for the merged tribal districts.

Throughout the year, several unprecedented events caught the province off guard. Here’s a quick recap of definitive events:

Floods

Meanwhile, after 12 years, the province was rocked by a similar deadly flood situation it had encountered in 2010.

According to government estimates, 106 children, 122 men and 36 women were among the dead, and an additional 237 have been injured with nearly 0.6 million affected.

The unusually heavy showers had turned the small mountain streams and ravines into swollen rivers that washed away everything on their way including human beings, herds of cattle, standing crops, trees and houses.

Read more: ECP locked horns with PTI throughout year

The government’s preliminary survey report also stated that over 73,000 houses were affected – of which 30,233 were completely destroyed and 42,965 were partially damaged by the natural disaster.

Another 754 schools were also said to have been affected - of these at least 72 were completely swept away by the floods, while 682 were partially damaged.

Health centres were also badly hit, with a total of 82 estimated to have been affected. Well over 60,000 acres of crop and 477 irrigation systems were also destroyed by the floods. Nearly 1,455 kilometres of roads was also been destroyed, with 867 roads and at least 73 bridges affected.

Additionally, over 9,000 animals were also said to have been killed, which according to the principal minister Shaukat Yousafzai may potentially leave the total estimated financial cost at a staggering Rs100 billion. Meanwhile, the initial damage caused by the flood has been estimated at Rs68 billion.

Despite all this, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced relief packages for Balochistan flood victims. On the directives of the chief minister, the members of the provincial cabinet sent the 32 truckloads to the government of Balochistan.

By-polls

As for electoral politics, the local body system became vibrant again after the successful completion of the series of local body elections in the province.

In the second phase, local body elections were held in 18 districts of the province.

In October, the PTI chief Imran Khan set a new record by winning four National Assembly seats.

The polling was held on seven National Assembly seats which were, NA-22 Mardan III, NA-24 Charsadda II, NA-31 Peshawar V, NA-108 Faisalabad VIII, NA-118 Nankana Sahib II, NA-157 Multan IV, NA-237 Malir II, NA-239 Korangi Karachi I.

The hallmark of the October 2022 by-polls was that Imran contested all the NA seats except one that is NA-157, where the party had fielded Meher Bano Qureshi, daughter of party Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi against PDM’s candidate Ali Musa Gilani.

Prior to Imran Khan, PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto contested five seats simultaneously. The former PM emerged victorious on four seats and lost one.

In September when the Election Commission of Pakistan imposed Rs50,000 fine each on former prime minister chief Imran Khan, K-P CM Mahmood Khan and several cabinet members, including ministers and advisers to the chief minister, for violating the code of conduct issued for the upcoming by-elections by participating the Sept 6 public rally in the provincial capital despite the warning.

The fine was imposed by the ECP district monitoring officer for NA-31 Peshawar-V Shahabuddin.

In his order, the DMO said the perusal of evidence comprising videos, photos and news clippings coupled with a report of monitoring team had established that various public office-holders, including chief minister, cabinet members, advisers and special assistants, in contravention of Para 17-B of the code of conduct, participated in the rally.

Governance

On the upside, the authorities took notable measures to improve the overall law and order situation in the province. The ruling party – which also governs the merged tribal areas rocked by resurging militancy – decided to boot out militancy and prevent incidents of unrest across the province.

Moreover, a decision was taken to form a joint forum of civil and military institutions and establish an anti-extortion cell.

A special anti-extortion desk was established for the identification of terrorist groups involved in making extortion calls across the province. The desk is working on threat calls from Afghanistan along with developing regional and police station-wise heat maps. It will also identify and block grey traffic in coordination with FIA and PTA.

Meanwhile, following the shocking Murree incident that saw mass deaths of tourists, the chief minister also announced measures for the protection of tourists.

On 7 January 2022, a snowstorm occurred in Murree, dropping more than 4 feet of snow, killing 23 domestic tourists who had visited to see the snowfall. Many died as temperatures fell to around negative 8 degrees Celsius.

During the year, the K-P government also announced to make the Workers Welfare Board employees permanent. Debts of billions of rupees by international institutions were still discussed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

The Food Department and Bank of Khyber agreed to open accounts of 1 million families under Insaf Food Card.

In August, the meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah approved developmental projects of Rs110,241 million.

The meeting approved 62 projects pertaining to rural development, irrigation, public health engineering, C&W, health, elementary and secondary and higher education.

District development plans for several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are also part of approved projects, under which rehabilitation of health and educational facilities and clean drinking water would be provided.

Approved projects include the construction and improvement of irrigation and crossing facilities and flood infrastructure in villages Chuprial, Baidara, Shokhdara, Durushkhela, Baz Khela, Sakhra and adjoining areas of Swat district.

Moreover, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly approved the permanent appointment of 38,000 teachers. The provincial government also announced the start of work on new tourism zones. The chief minister approved projects worth Rs12 billion.

Mosque blast

A suicide blast inside a Shia mosque shook Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar in March, with officials saying that at least 56 people were killed and 194 were injured.

Officials, who termed the incident a suicide attack, initially said that two attackers were involved. However, CCTV footage released later showed a lone attacker clad in a black shalwar kameez reaching the mosque in the city's Qissa Khwani Bazaar on foot and brandishing a pistol.

He opened fired on police personnel deployed outside the main entrance for security before running inside. The attacker also opened fire on a man who tried to stop him and managed to enter the mosque, where worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers, after which an explosion took place.

Twin Eids

In a bizarre development, the dispute about the Shawwal moon sighting in the province ended up in the celebration of two Eids on two different days — again.

Muslims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa crowded mosques and prayer grounds across the province to offer prayers on Monday, a day before the rest of the country.

Prayers were held at over 100 places in Peshawar alone while Chief Minister Mahmood Khan offered his prayer at the Governor’s House.

IMF threat

The K-P government threatened the centre and the IMF with non-cooperation. Just three days before the revival of the multi-billion dollar lending by the International Monetary Fund, the K-P government tried to derail the programme in an attempt that the then Finance Minister Miftah Ismail termed a “conspiracy against Pakistan”.

In a letter to Ismail, K-P Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra linked the provincial cash surplus in this fiscal year – which is a part of Pakistan’s deal with the IMF – with the clearance of the Rs100 billion claimed liabilities.

Under the IMF deal, the K-P government was required to generate a Rs117 billion cash surplus, which it has already consented to provide through a memorandum of understanding. Ismail is a co-signatory of the Letter of Intent (LoI) dispatched to the IMF a few days ago for the revival of the programme.