QWP threatens to move court for provincial rights

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said on Monday that his party would consider moving the court to secure the constitutional rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club here, he said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government should step down as it could not safeguard the interests of the province. He threatened that his party would launch a protest movement to secure the rights of the province. Criticising the KP government, Sikandar Sherpao said it compromised on the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “It is sheer injustice on part of the federal government to make the provincial government pay the interest on the loan taken by the Centre to pay the net hydel profit arrears to KP,” he added. He flayed the federal government for making a cut on the Rs500 million excise revenue, saying the move was unconstitutional.

“As per the Provincial Consolidated Fund, the province is entitled to receive the money, but the KP government is silent on this issue,” he added.

Sikandar Sherpao said the government had dropped the Chashma canal project from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). “This project was included in the PSDP after hectic efforts, but the KP government has deprived the people of its benefits.

The project would have helped irrigate thousands of acre barren land in the southern districts,” he said, adding that it was ironic that the PTI was in power at the Centre and in the province, but it cannot secure the rights of the province,” he added.

The QWP leader added that the slogan of change was a ploy to reach the corridors of power as the PTI rulers have done nothing for the wellbeing of the people. He said that shelving the Chitral Motorway Project, which was part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a grave injustice.

He added the government reneged on the pledges made with the residents of the merged districts. Sikandar Sherpao said the government was also dragging its feet over the payment of the oil and gas royalty to the province that generated more electricity than its consumption, but its dwellers faced prolonged power cuts. “The provincial government is like a rubber stamp taking dictation from the Centre,” he sneered.