PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao Sunday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial government for failing to get the arrears of the net hydel profit (NHP) from the federal government.
Speaking at a press conference at Watan Kor, the headquarters of QWP, the QWP chief referred to the recent statement of the prime minister in which he had said that the federal government would have to raise the electricity tariff to give the NHP arrears to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
QWP leaders Hashim Babar, former senator Haji Mohammad Ghufran, Hashim Raza Advocate and Tariq Ahmad were also present on the occasion.
“It seems the prime minister is ignorant about this issue. The NHP arrears have nothing to do with the power tariff,” he pointed out, demanding the provincial government to play its due role in getting the NHP arrears from the centre.
Aftab Sherpao also came down hard on the provincial government for its silence in the wake of the prime minister’s remarks on the NHP issue. He said the KP government was compromising on the rights of the province.
“We are not seeking alms from the federal government. It is our constitutional right to be given the NPH arrears under the AGN Kazi formula,” he declared.
He quoted the Article 161 (2) of the Constitution, which states, “the net profits earned by the federal government or any undertaking established or administrated by the federal government from the bulk generation of power at a hydro-electric station shall be paid to the province in which the hydro-electric station is situated.”
The QWP leader said the federal government raised the gas and electricity tariff and imposed the general sales tax at the behest of the International Monetary Fund.
About the merger of the former tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he recalled that the federal government had pledged to allocate Rs100 billion every year to carry out uplift projects in the merged districts for the next 10 years.
“The government has failed to honour its pledge. The tribal districts lack the basic amenities of life. The government should take steps to provide health, education and other necessary facilities to the people of the merged districts,” he demanded.
About the Kashmir issue, he maintained that it was the unfinished agenda of the United Nations, but the government was unable to forge unity among the nation. “The government should have taken the opposition into confidence about the Kashmir issue, but it failed to do so,” he explained.
Aftab Sherpao said that his party supported the march of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl as this government was unable to steer the country out of the prevailing crises. “This government is a threat to the national security,” he believed.
He said the process of accountability should be across-the-board and not directed against the opposition parties. The government was victimising the opposition leaders through selected accountability, he went on to add.
The QWO chief said that nobody was seeking the NRO from the government and the prime minister should stop repeating this mantra.
The senior politician said that negotiations were the only way to find a solution to the Afghan imbroglio and end the conflict. He called for an-intra Afghan dialogue to bring stability to the war-torn country.
“Peace talks between the US and the Taliban would have yielded results had the Afghan government been taken on board,” he added.