Opposition leader deplores KP Govt poor performance, debt burden
PESHAWAR (APP): Opposition Leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Dr. Ibadullah Khan, here Monday strongly criticized the Provincial Government for its unclear policy in combating terrorism.
After the APS tragedy, he said the national leadership united and took decisive measures against terrorism. As a result, the National Action Plan (NAP) was formulated and terrorism declined significantly through Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
However, the current provincial government appears to have failed in fulfilling its responsibilities in combating terrorism.
While speaking in the provincial assembly, Dr. Ibadullah said that after the APS incident, the then Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif visited Peshawar, where all political parties and the military leadership were taken into confidence. “Even Imran Khan, who was protesting at D-Chowk at the time, was invited to the meeting.”
According to him, this consultation led to the formation of the NAP and the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which helped bring terrorism under control in KP.
Dr. Ibadullah said that under the National Action Plan, the greatest responsibility lay with the provinces. The provincial government formed a committee, and during an in-camera briefing it was decided that Terms of Reference (ToRs) would be prepared. However, the government damaged the seriousness of the matter by bringing it into the public domain prematurely. He said that the province received Rs. 800 billion under the war on terror, yet not even a single police station has been established in the former FATA to this day.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province without a fully functional Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), whereas Punjab has transitioned 90 percent of its Safe City project. Even today, people of the province have to go to Lahore for forensic facilities.
He said that being forced to leave one’s home is an extremely painful experience and should not be politicized, as the Pashtun people have been enduring this suffering for many years.
Dr. Ibadullah said that politics should not be done over dead bodies and described the contradiction between words and actions as hypocrisy. He recalled that for the first time, the province was given net hydel profit under the AGN formula, but questioned why these payments were not made during Imran Khan’s Govt tenure. During the FATA reforms, four budgets were approved, yet the merged districts were not given their due share.
The Opposition Leader said that it is the responsibility of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to focus on the province, but the cabinet is still incomplete.
He said that on one hand Tirah is suffering due to heavy snowfall, while on the other hand the Chief Minister is busy with protest politics, even though protesting is the job of the opposition.
Dr. Ibadullah said that PTI’s political culture has damaged Pashtun traditions. According to him, the province had a debt of Rs. 150 billion in 2013, which has now exceeded Rs. 800 billion, while Rs. 6 billion in subsidies is being given to run the BRT. In conclusion, he questioned where new primary schools have been established across the province over the past two years and demanded a clear answer from the government.
