Sherpao wants ECP to ensure free and fair polls

CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahamd Khan Sherpao on Saturday said that the onus to hold a free and fair election was on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Speaking at a gathering of party workers in Harichand in Charsadda district, he said that the delimitation process should be carried out in a proper manner to ensure the holding of the free and fair election.

He recalled that issues cropped up when the delimitation process was carried after the 2017 census, calling for efforts to avoid problems.

“The ECP should now ensure an enabling environment for the conduct of the free and fair election so that nobody could raise objections to the polls outcome later,” he added.

Aftab Sherpao said that paying the inflated electricity bills was beyond the financial capacity of most people particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which produced cheap and surplus hydel electricity.

Asking the caretaker government to provide relief to the people in the face of skyrocketing inflation, the QWP leader maintained that rising prices of the daily use items had squeezed the purchasing power of the commoners.

He said that rising US dollar rate, the unprecedented increase in POL and electricity prices had made life a living hell not only for the have-nots but also for the ones doing white-collar jobs.

“The people are also facing the brunt of prolonged power cuts in the hot and humid summer days,” he remarked.

Expressing concern over the poor law and order in the country particularly in KP, Aftab Sherpao asked the government to take corrective steps as soon as possible or else the situation could spin out of control.

Asking the government to give KP its rights enshrined in the constitution, he said that the QWP would spare no effort to serve the Pakhtuns and help them get their due rights.

Commenting on the Battagram chairlift incident, he said that it showed that the remote areas in KP were still underdeveloped and lacked even the basic road infrastructure.