KP govt victimising opponents: PPP leader

NOWSHERA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Liaqat Shabab Friday said that the provincial government had set up the Ehtesab Commission, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to suppress and victimise its political rivals.
He was talking to reporters here, after obtaining an interim order from the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against his arrest orders issued by the Ehtesab Commission on corruption charges against him.
The PPP leader said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was operational at the federal level and forming any other such parallel institution was illegal and unconstitutional.He alleged that soon after assuming the charge of the office, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had started issuing statements against him. “I was mentally prepared for this day,” he added.
He said that the Ehtesab Commission had asked him to appear in its office to assist the authority in investigation of a corruption case in Excise and Taxation Department but the officials handed him a proforma asking him to pen down details of his assets. “I sought time for filling the long proforma but the officials had been instructed to arrest me,” he added.
He said that he was in the office of the Ehtesab Commission when a raid had been conducted on his residence in Nowshera.The PPP leader alleged that the officials of the Ehtesab Commission had smashed the furniture and closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) installed in his house and misbehaved with the women.
“Arrests me and hold me accountable if I have done any wrong but do not target my children and other family members,” he added.Shabab said that false corruption cases had been filed against the PPP leadership.
Meanwhile, the Awami National Party (ANP) general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain Friday asked the government not to target political opponents.Talking to reporters here, he said that the people would lose trust in the Ehtesab Commission if it was used for political motives and against the political opponents.
“The government should not only target the former ministers in the previous government set up but also lay hands on all the corrupt elements,” he added.He said that the Ehtesab Commission should not be used as a tool for victimising the political rivals.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that chief minister, ministers and lawmakers were openly violating the code of conduct for election but the Election Commission was not taking any action against them.
Criticising the federal government for increasing the power tariff at the behest of International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said that the government should form its own policies instead of taking dictation from others.
He urged the federal and provincial governments to provide relief to the masses in the upcoming budget. Mian Iftikhar also slammed the federal government for ignoring the officers of the provincial government in promotion of the district management (DMG) groups and Police Services of Pakistan (PSP) group. He urged the prime minister to dissolve the Centre Selection Board and constitute a fresh one to address the reservations of the officers belonging to the smaller provinces.