Credibility of Ehtesab Commission,impartiality of IGP put under question

PESHAWAR: The production of former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has not only put under question the credibility of the Ehtesab Commission and impartiality of provincial police chief, but it also got Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members into trouble.
Ziaullah Afridi, who was arrested on the charges of corruption and misuse of power, defended his position on the floor of the assembly and presented evidence against Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. He blamed the latter for his arrest by the Ehtesab Commission.
The meaningful silence of the treasury benches, particularly the cabinet members, made the case of Ziaullah Afridi stronger in the provincial assembly. Ziaullah Afridi had brought bundles of files to the provincial legislature.
The cabinet members the other day held an informal meeting and reposed confidence in the chief minister.
“We have decided to hold a news conference on Monday to counter the allegations levelled by Ziaullah Afridi against the chief minister and the cabinet,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani was quoted as telling a foreign radio service.
Ziaullah Afridi, who is admitted to a hospital, alleged that some cabinet members were smugglers and the friends and close relatives of the chief minister were involved in illegal mining.
The former minister said he would present more documentary proof against the corrupt elements at the next session of the assembly.
Sources said the chief minister was angry with his ministers for not replying harshly to Ziaullah Afridi. In particular, he was unhappy with his minister who had guaranteed that the former minister would not speak in the assembly against the government or the chief minister.
The sources said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was already perturbed by the election of the chief minister’s brother and close relatives of the ministers as district and tehsil nazims in the local government election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Liaqat Khattak, who is the brother of chief minister, was elected as the district nazim of Nowshera.
The sources said that if the PTI chief ordered an inquiry into the case of Ziaullah Afridi it would weaken the position of the chief minister.
The sources said the possible merger of the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) into the PTI and the planning rejoining of the provincial government by the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) had created differences among the top leadership of the PTI.
The chief minister, the sources said, had assured PTI activists that the AJIP would be merged into PTI after the Senate election. This got delayed and no firm date has been given when this will happen.
Despite strong opposition from party leaders, the chief minister was adamant to give key portfolios to the Aftab Sherpao-led QWP, the sources added. Some PTI leaders, including Ziaullah Afridi, were opposed to the chief minister’s wish to bring back the QWP into the coalition government in the province.
Imran Khan had expelled the QWP from the provincial government after accusing its two ministers, Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussain, of being involved in corruption. A bitter war of words had ensued between the PTI and QWP subsequently, but that is now a thing of the past as the two parties are now about to become coalition partners again.
Political analysts said that the allegations of Ziaullah Afridi against the chief minister and his cabinet would open up a Pandora’s Box that could undermine the PTI government.