Confirmation: QWP chief Sherpao says party will attend APC

Holds press conference, urges federal government to give priority to K-P in economic deals with China.

PESHAWAR:

The Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) has announced it will be participating in the all-parties conference (APC)  scheduled for this month.

In a press conference at the party’s central secretariat on Monday, QWP Chairperson Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said they would also advise other parties to follow suit.

Speaking about forming electoral alliances for the upcoming by-elections with its coalition partners in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, Sherpao said the party has not taken any decision in this regard yet. However, he maintained the QWP will fully participate in the by-polls.



The QWP chief urged the federal government to give priority to K-P in the economic deals signed with China. “K-P’s infrastructure has been badly damaged because of militancy and lawlessness. The federal government should plays its due role and announce economic incentives and relief for the province,” he said.

“K-P generates 5,500 megawatts of electricity but it has been subjected to unlawful load-shedding. This will not be tolerated and we will protest against this,” Sherpao asserted.

He criticised the federal government’s announced increase in the cost per unit of electricity claiming QWP had made plans to increase power generation in the province.

At the briefing, former Pakistan Peoples Party stalwart and former MPA Jehangir Khan announced he was joining QWP along with his supporters.

QWP provincial secretary general and K-P Minister for Labour and Industries Bakht Baidar Khan, Provincial Senior Vice President Saleem Khan and Justice Shah Jehan Khan Yousafzai were also in attendance.   

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2013.