PESHAWAR: Accusing the previous provincial government of looting the exchequer and converting the Chief Minister’s House into a bargaining centre, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak Monday warned the opposition to think before criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Taking notice of the criticism by the opposition, he said the former rulers established records of corruption and tasked Syed Masoom Shah, who was an aide to then chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti, with selling government jobs and contracts and appointing its blue-eyed persons by ignoring merit.
Quoting Awami National Party (ANP) leader Azam Khan Hoti that the leadership of the nationalist party had received millions of dollars from the United States, he said that the ANP leader conceded that there was rampant corruption during their party’s government.
Pervez Khattak said the ANP-led government stopped his development funds when he resigned as minister and quit the government. He said the people rejected the former rulers in the general election and voted the PTI into power.
He said he believed in clean politics and had always played his role honestly.The chief f minister urged the opposition legislators to think about their past before speaking on the floor of the House.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the session after the chief minister concluded his speech in which bitterly criticised the opposition.The joint opposition protested against the adjournment of the session without being given the chance to respond to the chief minister’s speech. They termed the move unparliamentarily and said the chief minister used undemocratic language.
The opposition criticised the speaker for acting partially and argued that it was their right to respond to the accusations made by the chief minister. The opposition legislators said they would respond to the chief minister’s diatribe at the nextsession and would not allow the rulers to trample democratic norms and traditions.
Talking to reporters, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha, ANP’s Sardar Hussain Babak and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Nighat Orakzai said that the chief minister had used derogatory language against them.
They said the chief minister levelled allegations against them and he should have the courage to listen to them. They asked as to why the chief minister remained silent and didn’t raise these questions when he was part of the previous government. Nighat Orakzai said she had proof as to how the chief minister got his son-in-law elected as senator.
Earlier, the joint opposition, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)’s Lutfur Rehman, Syed Mufti Janan and Shah Hussain and ANP’s Sardar Hussain Babak in their speeches criticised the government for not honouring its commitment with them about provision of development funds.
They said the PTI government was making tall claims about following merit, but neither justice was provided to any one nor merit was being followed. The legislators said the government had allocated funds for only 66 constituencies and had ignored the opposition members. The opposition members said they were also the representatives of the people and should be treated equally.
Responding to the points raised by the opposition, Minister for Communication and Works Yousaf Ayub said the government wanted to ensure transparency and that was why it stopped the development funds of all members, including those sitting on the treasury benches. He said the government would soon hire a consultant to ensure transparency in the use of development funds.
