Don’t panic: QWP criticises decision to call army to capital

Sherpao says government doing this as it is wary of PTI’s long march.

Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has criticised the move to call in the army to secure the federal capital for three months and said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government made a panicked decision.

“It seems like the government is worried about the August 14 march of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” he said in a statement. “We oppose summoning army troops.”



He added the decision showed that the government lacked trust in the civilian law-enforcement agencies. “They are quite capable of maintaining law and order and there is no need to summon the army,” he said.

Aftab Sherpao said the government had no plan to interfere with the PTI long march to Islamabad as it would simply play into the hands of the PML-N’s critics and damage its credibility. “The PTI protest doesn’t pose any threat to the government and the rulers should not overreact,” he maintained.

He said PTI rulers failed to deliver on their election promises and were simply trying to divert attention from the real problems being faced by the poor in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Aftab Sherpao said that the PTI had been in power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for over a year, but according to him, had failed to improve the performance of a single government department.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2014.