ISLAMABAD - The Awami National Party (ANP) yesterday reacted to the rebirth of alliance between Khyber Pakhtukhwa government and Qaumi Wattan Party (QWP) saying the move has questioned the moral authority of PTI-led government to end corruption.
Reacting to the Tuesday’s development in which two lawmakers of QWP were sworn in for joining the KP’s cabinet, central information secretary ANP Zahid Khan said that PTI had accepted the lawmakers that were expelled for being corrupt.
Two QWP legislators took oath as ministers on Tuesday. The PTI had expelled members of the Aftab Sherpao-led party 20 months back on charges of committing financial irregularities.
“What authorises the KP government to implicate our Senator Sitara Ayaz in corruption scam when the provincial government itself embraces the ministers that were expelled from cabinet on charges of corruption?” Zahid Khan, a former Senator said. He blamed head of the Provincial Ehtisab Commission Lt Gen (r) Hamid Khan for victimising ANP lawmakers in order to avenge on those political forces that did not approve his nomination as KP Governor.
“ANP advocates cross-party accountability. Why only opponents are being targeted?” the ANP office-bearer told The Nation and regretted that the party that stood against terrorists is meted out a discriminated treatment. He said a minister in Pervez Khattak’s cabinet revealed on the floor of the provincial assembly that 11 ministers including the chief ministers were involved in corruption.
“We ask the KP government to take action against the corrupt ministers. We will not bow down before political victimisation. We have faced dictators. And we will face the present provincial government. They should punish to an extent that they can bear it in future,” a statement issued by ANP said.
PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari two days back also lambasted the KP government for allegedly resorting to politics of vendetta. He referred to the implication of Senator Sitara Ayaz in a corruption case.
But on Tuesday, Sitara Ayaz, ANP’s Senator, succeeded in getting a verdict in her favour from Peshawar High Court that stopped KP’s Ehtisab Commission from arresting her.
And Chairman PTI Imran Khan also took to twitter posting a tweet, “there is a union of corrupt leaders who all have their looted money stashed abroad.”
“We are determined to counter efforts to prevent us from arresting politicians/leaders of other political parties wanted by the KP Ehtesab Commission,” Mr Khan said regretting that the federal government was making it difficult for KP’s accountability commission to arrest criminals hiding out in Islamabad.
QWP REJOINS KP GOVT
Staff Reporter from Peshawar adds: Two MPAs of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) yesterday took oath as ministers in provincial cabinet, as the party rejoins the alliance with the PTI-ld Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Mahtab Ahmad Khan administered the oath to the new ministers – Sikandar Khan Sherpao and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli – at the Governor House in Peshawar.
According to reports, Sikandar Sherpao has been made the senior minister for home and tribal affairs as well as irrigation department, while Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has been given the portfolios of the mines and minerals as well as labour and manpower.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, provincial ministers Anayatullah Khan, Shehram Khan Tarakai, MPAs, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Amjad Ali khan, political leaders, senior civil officials and others were also in attendance.
It is pertinent to mention here that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani was removed from the post to accommodate a QWP lawmaker, as the number of provincial cabinet members could not exceed from 14 under the 18th constitutional amendment.
On the other hand, two QWP MPAs including Arshad Umarzai and Karim Khan have been made special assistant and adviser to the chief minister.
QWP and PTI had signed an agreement for power sharing in the province on September 30.
Under the deal, both parties agreed to cooperate with each other in the larger interest of the people of the province.
Previously, QWP had joined the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government after the 2013 general election but its two ministers, including Sikandar Hayat Sherpao and Bakht Baider Khan were removed from the cabinet on corruption charges.
The rejoining of Qaumi Watan Party into the ruling alliance of Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was widely criticised by the critics and termed it Paksitan Tehreek-e-Insaf compromise with corrupt elements who have been already ousted from alliance in the initial stage.