All but two: JUI-F, PML-N want no part in Islamabad protest

PTI, coalition partners ready to march Parliament House today for K-P’s rights

PESHAWAR:

The two main opposition parties in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), have decided not to take part in the provincial government’s demonstration in front of the Parliament House in Islamabad on Tuesday (today).

Lawmakers, led by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, will gather at K-P House in the capital and set off at 10am. Their sit-in will be against prolonged power cuts, changes to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and to demand the massive dues owed by the Centre to K-P.

However, PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha told The Express Tribune this protest was being done more for PTI’s sake than the province. He said the provincial government should have engaged the Centre in talks before resorting to sit-ins.

“First talk to the federal government and inform them about K-P’s issues,” he said, adding opting for a protest before exhausting all other possibilities was improper.

JUI-F K-P Spokesperson Haji Jalil Jan also said his party was not going to attend the dharna. He said this protest reflected the immature nature of PTI’s politics and questioned the ruling party’s silence over the province’s rights during its months-long protest in the federal capital. He said if PTI had bothered to raise its voice at the time, it would not have to launch another sit-in.

On the other hand, PPP has decided to take part in the sit-in after initially refusing. Earlier on, a spokesperson for PPP K-P President Senator Khanzada Khan said the latter asked his party’s lawmakers to not attend the sit-in. However, the party later announced it allowed Nighat Orakzai to be part of the demonstration.

ANP’s parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak declared his party would take part in this protest. Babak added ANP had always been at the forefront of any struggle for the rights of K-P. However, he did not appreciate PTI’s solo tactics, saying it should have developed a consensus with other political parties over the province’s issues with the Centre.

Ready for Islamabad

Minister for Information Mushtaq Ghani said the protest outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on Tuesday would be for the “rights of the province’s people”. He was addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday.

Speaking about the trade corridor, Ghani said the provincial government believed in national interest and was happy that China is investing such a significant amount in the country. However, he said all the attention cannot be focused on one province. The information minister said industrial zones should be established in DI Khan and Hazara Division so K-P can benefit from this investment.

He asked for an increase in the percentage of war on terror funds for the province.

Generation capacity

Ghani said although the province produces sufficient electricity, it is being subjected to massive power outages.

Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said gave some facts and figures to support Ghani’s statements. Referring to a Nepra report on Chitral, Mansehra and Kohistan, Said added K-P can produce 17,000 megawatts of electricity. He added in K-P, power could be produced at the cost of Rs1.40 per unit, while it would be as expensive as Rs9.60 per unit in Punjab.

Talking about arrears that the federal government has to pay to K-P, the finance minister claimed the federal government owed K-P Rs653 billion. He said that Centre’s debt had been building up since 1991.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2015.