PESHAWAR: Major political parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have dismissed the newly-formed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Parliamentarians as a threat to their politics, saying the experiment is destined to fail.

Awami National Party provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak, when contacted for his views about the new party, said that it was a bad fortune of Pakhtuns that their province was turned into a political laboratory for new experiments. He said that leaders of PTIP should first face accountability to clear themselves from the charges of corruption and then lead a political party.

He said that it was duty of the accountability watchdogs to take action against the former chief ministers and recover the public wealth from them. He said that two former chief ministers were responsible for increase in acts of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as they failed to take action against the anti-state elements during their tenures.

Mr Babak said that PTIP had no political value to affect ANP. He said that those, who kept the people of KP deprived of their due rights, should be held accountable. He said that the politics of turncoats should come to an end as the practice could not bring any positive change in the fate of people. “ANP has its vote bank and it will remain intact. ANP will continue its struggle against price hike, unemployment, lawlessness and poverty,” he added.

Leaders of major political parties say their vote bank is intact

Similarly, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesperson Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan said that his party had already strong position in the province and proved its status by winning the local government elections. He said that JUI-F was runner up on majority of the seats during the 2018 general elections.

He said that Pervez Khattak could create problems for JUI-F. “We have defeated PTI even when it was in power. The splinter group is nothing than a group of some elements facing many corruption charges. The grouping in PTI will benefit JUI-F in the province,” he added.

Jalil Jan said that JUI-F would not form alliance with any party for the next general elections, however, it had already empowered its district level office-bearers to make seat adjustments with other parties. He said that work on the seat adjustment with ANP in Buner and with Jamaat-i-Islami in Dir was already under way.

Commenting on the formation of PTIP, Qaumi Watan Party provincial vice president Tariq Ahmad Khan told this scribe that it was repetition of an old experiment by the same architects that was destined to fail soon. “Experiments on the same pattern cannot bear any fruit particularly for welfare of the poor people,” he said and added that formation of the new group of PTI was no more than a drama.

He said that all the institutions should focus on their own duties within constitutional framework. He said that formation of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was also such an attempt. He added that government should focus on controlling price hike and maintaining law and order.

Likewise, Pakistan Peoples Party Peshawar division spokesman Tariq Raheem said that Pervez Khattak was not a committed politician to work steadily but he used to change his stance with passing of time.

“He is unable to win on his own without crutches. PPP is fast getting popularity in KP as its graph is going up and would surely succeed to win majority of seats in the province,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023