Rivals forming alliances against PTI: KP CM

NOWSHERA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Monday said that the popularity of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had unnerved the opponents and that was why they were forming alliances to contain the party.

Speaking at a public meeting in Amankot here, he hoped that all such alliances would fail to compete with the PTI in the general election. “The youth and people would reject any alliance against the PTI. The party has the support of all and sundry and no alliance can defeat the party,” he claimed.

Pervez Khattak said the rival political parties including Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) disappointed the poor masses and did nothing for their welfare.

“The previous governments of these parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plundered the funds meant for projects of public interest and shifted capital abroad,” he alleged. The chief minister said that these parties hoodwinked the people with attractive slogans and reneged on their election pledges after reaching the corridors of powers. “Some deceived the people by raising the slogans of roti, kapra aur makaan, some in the name of Pakistan and Quaid-e-Azam while others in the name of Islam,” he elaborated.

Pervez Khattak said the people were politically aware and could not be fooled with the same outdated slogans anymore. He said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sent home and now Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari would be held accountable for their alleged wrongdoings. “They cannot escape justice,” he went on to say.

The chief minister said those who criticised the KP government had no future in the politics. “Don’t even think about winning the upcoming general election. Nobody can dare challenge the spirit of the young supporters of the PTI,” he added. He said that unlike his predecessors and political rivals who used to avoid meeting the common people after becoming a member of the parliament, he and his brother District Nazim Liaqat Khattak, nephews Member National Assembly Dr Imran Khattak and tehsil nazim Ahad Khattak remained in constant contacts with the people of their constituencies to listen and solve their problems.

The chief minister said the country was faced with serious challenges and needed honest and dedicated leadership to pull it out of the prevailing crises and streamline the faulty system. He said the PTI provided an alternative to the people and they should vote the party to power in the Centre and all the provinces in the upcoming general elections.

Pervez Khattak said that PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced reforms in the state institutions and put an end to political interference in the government departments. “We have inherited a province where state institutions were politicised and public servants did not respect the common man. We made the government officers true public servants and revamped the decade old faulty system,” he added. Activists of other political parties joined the PTI on the occasion.