QWP set to rejoin KP govt in few days

PESHAWAR: Despite reservations by most of its MPAs, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is set to welcome the Aftab Sherpao-led Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) as coalition partner in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government within the next few days, senior PTI leaders told The News on Sunday.
“Most of the issues with the QWP have almost been finalised and they can join the government anytime. Initially there was a divided opinion within our party with some of our people strongly opposed to inclusion of QWP in the government. However, they had to remain silent after Chief Minister Pervez Khattak strongly supported the QWP’s return to the government,” a senior PTI leader and minister told The News.
Pleading anonymity, he said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had already made up his mind about working with the QWP in the province and this is the reason he convinced the party chief Imran Khan about it.
He said the PTI MPAs and other office-bearers had informed their leadership about the damage it would cause to their reputation if they began working with the QWP after having earlier expelled its two ministers from the government on corruption charges.
“Imran Khan was initially against working with Aftab Sherpao’s QWP as coalition partner after parting ways with it 20 months ago over corruptions charges levelled by him against the ministers belonging to the QWP. However, Pervez Khattak convinced him that QWP’s rejoining would strengthen the government,” the PTI leader said.
He said after marathon meetings with the QWP leadership, the PTI decided to work with the Sherpao-led party as coalition partner in the province.
The minister said that most of the issues relating to ministers and their portfolios had been resolved through mutual understanding.
“They were demanding four cabinet berths and two posts of special assistants to the chief minister, but we offered them two ministries and two special assistants,” the PTI leader said.
According to the minister, the QWP had demanded portfolios of Home and Tribal Affairs, Labour, Irrigation and Mines and Mineral Development.
“This time both the QWP leadership and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak are quite flexible in their demands.
The Mines and Mineral Development portfolio fell vacant after the arrest of Ziaullah Afridi by the Ehtesab Commission on corruption charges.
“In case they insisted on taking Home and Tribal Affairs, the chief minister would have to surrender it, otherwise, Shah Farman would be asked to sacrifice the portfolio of Commerce and Technical Education,” the PTI leader said.
Like all other provincial ministers, Shah Farman is managing two portfolios.
Another PTI leader and a minister, however, welcomed QWP in the government and hoped it would strengthen their government.
“Well it’s true that the two political parties had parted ways on a very negative note but its politics and in politics you have to work with other political parties. There is nothing wrong in working with them if they have honest and talented people to deliver,” the PTI leader said.
“You may know Shahram Tarakai is going to merge his Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) in the PTI. But even then we need a strong government and can’t rely on Jamaat-i-Islami, even though they are very good people,” he argued.
He said QWP provincial leader Sikandar Sherpao and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli would become ministers while two other MPAs of the party would be accommodated as special assistants to the chief minister.
The PTI leader said that QWP MPA from Swabi, Abdul Karim Khan has been recommended for the office of special assistant along with another MPA from Charsadda.
Asked if it would be easy for them to defend their previous stance about the two QWP ministers, Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussain, who were expelled on corruption charges, the PTI leader said, “All these matters had properly been discussed.”
Also, one doesn’t know how the QWP leadership would forget and forgive the offense it had faced after the PTI leadership had thrown them out of the government as a coalition partner in November 2013.