PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday decided not to attenda multiparty conference arranged by Governor Faisal Karim Kundi today (Thursday) to discuss the recent violence in Kurram tribal district.

In a statement issued here, the PTI said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was working with the federal government to get the PTI banned and even got a resolution about it passed by the Balochistan Assembly.

It insisted that, unlike the PPP, it had a mandate from residents to rule KP and was performing its duties well.

“Our [PTI’s] government in the province will definitely consider any serious input from the governor on any issue,” he said.

However, it says will consider ‘serious input on any issue’ from Kundi

Earlier, adviser to the chief minister on information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif told reporters on the premises of the Peshawar High Court that the provincial government had so far not made any decision about the governor’s invitation to attend his MPC.

Meanwhile, the governor told reporters here that 16 political parties had agreed to attend his moot on the Kurram crisis.

“I personally invited the leadership of all parties to the conference. Political leaders are concerned about the deteriorating situation in Kurram, as neither the provincial cabinet nor the assembly has addressed the issue,” he said.

Mr Kundi said the MPC was meant to discuss the current Kurram situation and find an amicable and lasting solution to it.

He appreciated all the politicians who accompanied him to Kohat to participate in a jirga over Kurram situation.

The governor deplored the provincial government’s “apathy” to address the province’s issues and complained that when people were killed in Kurram, the chief minister and his cabinet members were busy with violent protests.

He claimed that no one from Punjab and Sindh province responded to the PTI’s recent march on Islamabad.

Mr Kundi questioned the provincial government’s priorities, saying that millions of rupees have been released for “martyrs” but no tangible relief has been provided to the residents of violence-hit Kurram.

He said that the families displaced from Kurram had got no relief from the provincial government, and even tents, food and necessary aid were provided to them by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

The governor said that a jirga would be formed to urge the federal government to prioritise peace and development for the people of KP in the MPC.

He said that the multiparty conference would also evaluate the provincial government’s performance.

“If the provincial government continues to fail in fulfilling its responsibilities, the federal government will be requested to take the necessary steps,” he said.

Mr Kundi said that the federal government could promulgate the governor’s rule in the province to address issues.

He said that it was the prime responsibility of the chief minister to maintain law and order in the province, but unfortunately, he was busy with one-point agenda of holding street protests against the federal government.

The governor also criticised the provincial government for passing resolutions against national institutions in the assembly while “neglecting to call a cabinet or assembly meeting to discuss Kurram crisis.”

He also resented the arrest of Pakhtuns by the Islamabad police instead of the political leaders responsible for violent protests in the federal capital.

“Pakhtuns should not be linked with the PTI. Their limited participation in the Islamabad march did not mean that the entire Pakhtun nation was supporting the party, which deceived the people of KP in the name of a positive change in their lives,” he said.

Mr Kundi said that law-abiding Pakhtun workers in Islamabad should be facilitated and not harassed.

Sources told Dawn that Mr Kundi had extended an invitation to the provincial government and the ruling PTI through provincial assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati over the phone.

They added that Mr Swati later informed the governor that he had forwarded his message to the provincial government.

Last Sunday, Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur rejected the governor’s MPC, insisting that it is not the governor’s job to call such moots and instead, as the elected leader of the province, he was to lead discussions on the law and order situation in the province.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2024