KP opposition says Gandapur deceived PTI workers, people

PESHAWAR: Opposition benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday termed the ‘self-proclaimed disappearance’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur a drama and said that he had not only deceived his party workers and leadership but also the people of the province.

Opposition parties’ members also questioned the fate of those resolutions which were approved by the treasury benches for the recovery of their ‘missing’ Leader of the House and summoning of the chief secretary, inspector general of police and principal secretary to chief minister about the disappearance and alleged arrest of the chief minister in Islamabad.

Opposition leader in the assembly Dr Ibadullah Khan, while speaking on the floor, said the chief minister should also listen to the opposition after narrating his tale at the time of his surprise ‘appearance’ in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Sunday night.

“The chief minister used abusive language against our leadership (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) but did not utter a single word about the establishment,” he said and added that Gandapur had put all the blame on the IG Islamabad for his mysterious disappearance.

“There are only three districts between Peshawar and Islamabad but the chief minister in his speech stated that he had crossed 12 districts to reach Peshawar,” the opposition leader said and added that if he had crossed 12 districts then it meant that he had gone somewhere beyond the federal capital.

Dr Ibaad, who is the brother of Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Amir Muqam, said that the KP chief minister had not only used government machinery and provincial government staff for his political purposes but also led a violent protest against the federation of Pakistan.

“He must be questioned for using provincial government machinery and police force for attacking federal capital at a sensitive time,” the PMLN leader said and added that Gandapur had played a double game as on the one hand he deceived his party leadership while on the other hand pleased his “real masters”.

Pakistan People’s Party Member Provincial Assembly Ehsan Ullah Khan from Dera Ismail Khan, the hometown of the KP chief minister, said that he had sympathy with the PTI MPAs who had passed resolutions and also delivered emotional speeches on the assembly floor but at the end of the session their Leader of House appeared and claimed that he was neither arrested nor abducted but had remained disappeared for 12 hours inside KP House.

“It makes no sense. And I will suggest you replace this mentally-retarded person with a sensible and dignified person as your chief minister,” he said and alleged that he had solid proof of the corruption of the chief minister in the constituency from where he was elected to the provincial assembly.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarian MPA and former provincial minister Iqbal Wazir claimed that the chief minister was not in his senses when he delivered speech on the assembly floor on Sunday night.

“The provincial government instead of leading protest against the Punjab and federal government, must focus on deteriorating law and order situation in the province, particularly in North Waziristan and other southern districts,” he said and added that he had quit the PTI due to some corrupt elements within the party.

Special Assistants to Chief Minister for Relief Nek Mohammad Wazir and MPA Suhail Afridi, while responding to the opposition, said that the PTI MPAs had full confidence in Ali Amin Gandapur as he was a true and sincere follower of the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan.

Speaker Babar Saleem Swati also constituted an 11-member committee of the House to probe and investigate the attack on KP House allegedly by Rangers and other law enforcement agencies where they allegedly ransacked movable and immovable properties.

The committee will have members from the treasury and opposition benches and submit a report to the assembly speaker. The session was adjourned till Tuesday afternoon after a member from the opposition benches pointed out the lack of quorum.