Anti-corruption drive: K-P govt urges centre to hold APC on drones, NATO supplies

Says people have a right to continue protesting if APC is not convened.

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Minister for Information Shah Farman on Wednesday urged the federal government to call an all-parties conference (APC) on the issue of drone attacks and Nato supplies passing through the country.

“If the [federal] government does not call the conference, the people have a right to continue their protest,” said Farman, justifying the ongoing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) led protest blocking the Nato supply lines in K-P.



Addressing a seminar on ‘Good Governance through Prevention’ organised in the provincial capital during the Anti-corruption Week, Farman also brought forth the issue of power and gas crisis in the province.

“We feel we are being discriminated against by the centre,” he said, adding despite producing the two commodities in abundance, K-P was experiencing gas and power load-shedding more than its fair share.

He shared the K-P government’s vision on dealing with the issue of corruption, claiming the PTI-led government will end the menace through social, economic and legal justice. Farman requested the people to help the government in this regard by informing them if anyone asks them for bribe.

Also speaking on the occasion, Establishment Department Secretary Sikandar Qayum said corruption was hampering sustainable development, but the government is taking a holistic approach to tackle the issue through various laws.

“Unaccountability results in increasing corruption,” said NAB Director General Shahzad Bhatti, adding bad governance and corruption are correlated.

Bhatti added there are two types of corruption – “corruption by need, and corruption by greed.”

“Corruption by need can be addressed by several steps, including increasing salaries of employees, but corruption by greed is a dangerous phenomenon with which even developed countries struggle,” he added.

“Without a strong civil society, nothing can be achieved in this world,” Bhatti said, talking about the role of the society in tackling the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2013.