United stand: Opposition groups to convene all parties conference

“The government has failed to resolve the power crisis among other issues faced by the country," says Orakzai, PML-Q.

PESHAWAR:

Opposition parties in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly have decided to convene an all parties conference (APC) on September 20.

Following the failure of the provincial government to gather all political parties to discuss the energy crisis, the opposition has decided to move ahead with an APC.

On Monday, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam–Fazl (JUI-F) leaders met other political representatives to extend invitations for the opposition APC to address the energy crisis among other issues.

A delegation of JUI-F leaders Maulana Attaur Rehman, Haji Ghaulam Ali, Abdul Jalil Jan, Asif Iqbal Daudzai and others visited Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) provincial headquarters ‘Al Markaz Islami’ and met its  provincial leaders. JI provincial spokesperson Israrullah Advocate told The Express Tribune that the JI leadership accepted the invitation and would participate.

JUI-F provincial spokesperson Haji Abdul Jalil Jan said that the party delegation also met representatives from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) and Pakistan Peoples Party – Sherpao (PPP-S)

PML-Q provincial spokesperson Nighat Orakzai conveyed her support for the moot when it was announced by opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani and Sikandar Khan Sherpao in a press conference. Despite the party’s allegiances to the PPP, she said that PML-Q would criticise the government as they were also responsible to electorates.

She added that there was no energy crisis when the PML-Q was in power and termed ANP’s earlier attempts to overcome the power shortage as eyewash.

After greatly criticising the provincial government, Orakzai said that criticism would not yield anything and all parties need to work together to find solutions.

“The government has failed to resolve the power crisis among other issues faced by the country, now those who have to come to power must take concrete measures to pull us out of this situation,” she said.

PTI provincial spokesperson Shah Farman said the party had received the invitation, but they would announce their decision after consulting the central leadership.

PPP-S confirmed that they would attend the conference.

JUI-F also planned to meet Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan leaders to extend invitations, as well as members of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S).

The conference, which will take place at the JUI-F’s provincial secretariat, will discuss the law and order situation of the province, the energy crisis and problems in the tribal areas among other important issues.

The K-P government had earlier tried to organise an APC in August to discuss the energy crisis and create a joint strategy to solve the crises. However, opposition parties boycotted the government’s moot, saying that the government had done nothing to control power cuts over the past four and half years.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2012.