Aftab Sherpao blasts govt for raising POL prices

CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday criticised the government for raising the prices of the petroleum products, saying the rulers were acting on the diktats of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking at a press conference here, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government did not have the ability to run the country.

On the occasion, Pakistan People’s Party local leader Mian Farooq Shah announced joining the QWP along his family members and supporters. He reposed confidence in the QWP leadership and vowed to work for strengthening the party at the grassroots level.

Aftab Sherpao said the activists of his party would actively participate in the protest demonstration outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on January 19.

He maintained that the struggle launched under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement would continue until the ouster of the rulers from power.

He said the PTI government could not honour a single pledge made to the people, who have been exposed to a host of problems. “This government has compounded the issues of the have-nots,” he believed.

Commenting on the holding back of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane in Malaysia over a lease dispute, he said that it was the failure of the government that caused embarrassment to the country at the international level.

The senior politician said the agreement reached between the US and the Afghan Taliban had not yielded the desired results, casting aspersions on the peace process.

He said that stability in Pakistan was linked to the restoration of peace in Afghanistan. The QWP leader underscored the need for strengthening people-to-people and government-to-government contacts with Afghanistan.

Aftab Sherpao pointed out that peace was a prerequisite for development therefore concerned efforts should be made to restore peace and stability to the region.

“Afghanistan has been in turmoil for the last four decades and the Afghans have been bearing the brunt of the conflict,” he said, calling for efforts to bring peace to the war-hit country.