Sherpao holds PTI responsible for poor economy

SWABI: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Friday said the country was facing the prevailing economic crunch due to the wrong economic policies of the previous government.

Addressing a gathering here, he said the poor people were bearing the brunt of the ill-conceived economic policies of the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led federal government.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz workers Ali Hussain Khan, Muhammad Aashiq Khan, Mujahid Khan, Sultan Hussain, Kamran Ali Hussain, Adnan Ali Hussain, Zeshan Ali Hussain and others announced joining the QWP on the occasion.

Aftab Sherpao maintained the incumbent government should also avoid placing more burden on the people as they were already facing backbreaking inflation in the wake of record increase in the prices of the petroleum products.

“The prices of the daily use items will also shoot up after the recent increase in the POL tariff,” he feared, urging the government to set an example by adopting austerity measures and introducing structural reforms to revive the weak economy.

Criticising former prime minister Imran Khan, Aftab Sherpao said the PTI leader had punctured the so-called regime change theory by telling lies to the nation.

The QWP leader demanded the federal government to announce the National Finance Commission Award and pay the outstanding dues to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on account of the net hydel profit in line with the AGN Kazi formula.

He said the PTI-led provincial government was least bothered to raise its voice for the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The PTI government has failed to properly take up the case of the province with the centre,” he noted.

Aftab Sherpao also demanded a probe into the forest fire incidents and called for taking steps to prevent such occurrences in future. “Hundreds of previous trees were reduced to ashes in the forest fires in the province, which is very alarming. This must be probed,” he said.

He also expressed concern over the long duration of electricity loadshedding in KP and said the province produced surplus power, but unfortunately it faced prolonged power cuts.