Sherpao rejects PM’s remarks on 18th Amendment

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Tuesday rejected the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan that the 18th Amendment had bankrupted the federation, saying it had nothing to do with the distribution of resources among the provinces.

In a statement, he said, “The resources are distributed among the provinces under the National Finance Commission Award. The 18th Amendment has got nothing to do with it.”

Aftab Sherpao said the country was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the ill-conceived policies of the incumbent government.

He said the economic managers of the government had miserably failed to improve the economic condition of the country.

Warning against any bid to undo the 18th Amendment, he said that those dreaming to roll back the 18th Amendment lived in a fool’s paradise.

He maintained the provinces secured provincial autonomy as a result of the landmark 18th Amendment and nobody would be allowed to undo it.

“The prime minister is issuing such controversial statements to distract the attention of the nation from the real issues,” he alleged, adding the QWP would strongly resist the bid to roll back the 18th Amendment.

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for its proposed plan to abolish the district tier of the local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said the rulers had termed it the best when it was introduced.

He said the PTI government had introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act to delegate powers to the grassroots, but now it was going to abolish the district tier which was a violation of the Constitution.

Aftab Sherpao said the government had burdened the people by increasing the electricity and gas tariffs.

He said the government also raised the prices of petroleum products and it had triggered a new wave of inflation and dented the purchasing power of the people.

Woman approaches police to complain about sexual assault

A young woman from a remote district of the Malakand division has approached the police here to complain that two persons who were brothers sexually assaulted her in Paharipura locality in the city.

The woman told the police that one Neelam took her to her home in Paharipura in Peshawar a few months back where she was provided the drug known as ice. She said later she became an addict of the drug.

The complainant said two sons of the woman sexually assaulted her during the last few months. She told the cops that she managed to escape from the captivity of the woman and her sons to seek help from the police.

Meanwhile, two persons allegedly assaulted a physically handicapped eight-year old boy in the limits of the Tehkal Police Station. The police has started conducting raids to arrest the two accused Irfan and Ibrahim.