Ajmal Wazir reiterates govt commitment to hold free, fair election in merged districts

PESHAWAR: Ajmal Wazir, advisor to chief minister, on Tuesday reiterated the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s commitment to hold free, fair and transparent elections for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the merged tribal districts.

Ajmal Wazir, who is also the spokesperson for the KP government, was speaking at “Meet-the-Press programme” of the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) at the Peshawar Press Club.

He claimed the law and order situation has improved in the tribal districts and all the political parties were campaigning freely ahead of the polls scheduled for July 20.

Ajmal Wazir said holding of transparent, fair and impartial elections was imperative to elect true representatives of the tribal people for which all resources would be mobilized. He said Rs162 billion would be spent on welfare and development projects to remove the sense of deprivation among the long neglected people of these areas.

Responding a question, he dispelled the impression that the provincial government was interfering in the electoral process, saying the decision of deployment of security forces personnel in and outside the polling stations was a prerogative of the Election Commission of Pakistan. “We have utmost desire to conduct the elections transparently and fairly,” he said. He said it was first time in the history of the country that a prime minister visited all former tribal areas and PTI’s government was the first to give a sense of ownership to the tribespeople. He said it was the top priority of the government and the prime minister to remove the decades-long sense of deprivation among tribal people. Ajmal Wazir said the local government polls would be conducted after holding of provincial elections in the tribal districts to transfer power at the grassroots level. He said the government would take all possible measures to resolve issues facing journalists, adding the sacking of media workers had been taken up with relevant quarters.

Ajmal Wazir said the work on the establishment of media colony had been expedited and the journalists would soon hear good news about it.