Mian Iftikhar blasts PTI govt for flawed policies

NOWSHERA: Awami National Party (ANP) secretary-general and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) spokesman Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Friday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had failed due to its flawed policies.

“The PTI government will be sent packing if justice is dispensed in the foreign funding case,” he said while speaking at a by-election campaign meeting for his party candidate for the PK-63 seat, Engineer Mian Wajahatullah Kakakhel.

The ANP senior leader said the PTI government had brought the country on the verge of collapse due to its domestic, foreign and economic policies which he said were unwise. Mian Iftikhar was critical of the PTI government for the unprecedented price spiral. “The government first increased the prices of petrol in the first month of this year and now the power tariff has been increased by 15 per cent. All these steps have made life miserable for the masses,” he added. He recalled that an aero plane of the national airlines was seized at the airport recently in Malaysia and the incident defamed the country in the comity of nations.

The ANP leader alleged that the PTI government was trying hard to wind up the Pakistan International Airlines, the national flag carrier.

He recalled that Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had made a damaging statement in the National Assembly about the credibility of the licenses of the PIA pilots, which brought negative impacts for the country as several states grounded the Pakistani pilots.

The ANP leader alleged that the PTI government members were resorting to the worst corrupt practices and several public sector entities were being allegedly offered to the prime minister’s cronies.

He said the PDM public meetings in various parts of the country had unnerved the rulers who had embarked on a propaganda ploy to deflect the attention of the people from the real issues but added that such tactics would not succeed. Mian Iftikhar said the difficulties the masses were facing demanded that the present government should be sent home forthwith.

He said January 23 was of great importance as the ANP would hold an impressive gathering in Peshawar to mark the death anniversaries of the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) and Khan Abdul Wali Khan.The ANP leader said special events would be arranged as well to mark the centenary of the Tehreek-e-Islah-e-Afaghina and show the party power on the day.

He asked the party workers to attend these progarmmes in a large number as Bacha Khan and Wali Khan were great leaders who always struggled for the rights of the Pakhtuns throughout their lives.