Policy gaps: LG Ordinance not acceptable to ANP, reiterates Mian Iftikhar

Information minister says PTI’s peace march in South Waziristan is a bold decision.

PESHAWAR: The provincial minister for information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, defended the decision of the Awami National Party (ANP) to sit on opposition benches in the Sindh Assembly over differences on the Local Government (LG) Ordinance.

“The ordinance is being brought just to appease one party,” he said in reference to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Talking to journalists at a consultative workshop on maternal health, he said: “The ANP will only accept a uniformed LG system in the country.”

Commenting on Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) provincial president’s statement on not forming an electoral alliance with the ANP in the next election, he said that his party’s leadership is in contact with the ruling party and no final decision has been taken so far.

Speaking about the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ‘peace march’ to South Waziristan, he said that it was a bold decision taken by Imran Khan. “It will be a difficult task to provide security to such a large rally, which is being attended by foreign journalists and human rights organisations,” he said.

Women’s health

Speakers identified policy gaps in the provision of better healthcare and maternal facilities. The workshop was organised by a non-governmental organisation, Rahnuma, at the Peshawar Press Club.

Rahnuma Director Nabila Malik said that more than 54 out of 1,000 women in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa die during pregnancy, whereas 78 out of 1,000 infants die due to inadequate health facilities.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2012.