PESHAWAR: Parliamentary leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Ahmad Kareem Kundi on Tuesday urged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government in the province to work for people’s development and raise voice for their rights instead of staging rallies across the country.

During a session chaired by deputy speaker Suriya Bibi, Mr Kundi alleged that the ruling PTI’s ministers and lawmakers were disconnected from people’s problems and were overly focused on holding public meetings.

He said the Council of Common Interest was tasked with resolving issues among federating units but the PTI’s government never bothered to engage with that constitutional forum to claim rights for the province.

“We have no objections to your staging rallies anywhere in the country but want to remind you of your duty of raising voice for the rights of people who have voted you to power,” he said.

Complains 5.5m children out of school in province despite govt’s announcement about education emergency

The PPP leader wondered who would take up the province’s pressing issues like delay in hydel power payments, royalty denial, and gas and water shortages with the federal government and insisted that the provincial government was unaware of the CCI.

He said the PTI, which had been ruling KP since 2013, promised to declare an education emergency but it failed to deliver on the promise, forcing 5.5 million children out of school.

Mr Kundi said the PPP was opposed to army interventions in politics and listened patiently to the speeches of the PTI lawmakers against army involvement in politics in the previous two weeks, he said.

He alleged that former ISI chiefs Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha, Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam and Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed helped the PTI come to power.

The opposition lawmaker complained that the PTI, like military dictator General Ziaul Haq, was using Islam to serve its political ends. He said politics was all about dialogue and reconciliation to address national crises instead of taking an inflexible stand.

Mr Kundi said that it was good to see the PTI visit JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for political dialogue.

He urged the party to sit with other major parties as well, saying confrontation won’t resolve issues.

Earlier, PTI lawmaker from Swat Akhtar Ali Khan said terror attacks had hit Swat once again to “pave the way for a military operation.”

He, however, said residents would resist any such move.

Mr Khan said Sunday’s terrorist attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors was meant to “destabilise” Swat valley.

He wondered how terroristsreached Swat and where they hidafter carrying out activities.

“People know who is behind terrorist activities,” he insisted without elaboration.

The lawmaker said people from different walks of life had been organising rallies for peace in their respective areas.

He said that a big peace rally would be held in Swat on Sept 27 against the recent terror attack on the convoy of foreign ambassadors in the district.

PTI MPA Hamayun Khan demanded of the government to take the frequent clashes in Kurram tribal district seriously for corrective measures.

Heemphasised the significance of the traditional jirga system for conflict resolution and complained thatlocal authorities were giving due importance to it to ease tensions in the region.

The chair later adjourned the session until Sept 30 due to insufficient quorum.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024