Political activities difficult in parts of KP over security reasons: governor

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali has said it is difficult to carry out political activities in parts of KP and Balochistan due to security reasons.

In an interview to a private news channel on Saturday, Ghulam Ali said there was no doubt that the situation in some areas such as Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat and Bannu was not good and a similar situation persisted in Balochistan.

He said general elections in the areas could be held but it was difficult to carry out political activities there. “The government and state institutions will make efforts because elections should be peaceful. It was the government’s duty to take voter to ballot box safely,” he added.

When asked if he had put the situation in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the governor replied the provincial government was responsible for it. “Some incidents have taken place recently. Every day our jawans are being martyred, but thankfully a big incident has not taken place yet. The provincial government and institutions are responsible for preparing a strategy for way forward. Pakistan should swiftly move towards polls while keeping political and economic situation in view,” he maintained.

Talking about the PTI’s claims of lack of level-playing field, he said the party’s objections were not valid and pointed out that it had recently held a number of rallies in KP. “It is not good for anyone to make the election process suspicious,” he added.