TAKHTBHAI: Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Saturday said that those who brought Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into power were now themselves admitting their mistake and paying the price for it.
“The entire country, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is on the brink of economic and administrative collapse due to the blunders and immature politics of PTI,” he said while addressing a gathering of party workers at a reception hosted by party activist Zahoor Hussain Mohmand in Miraman Killay Jhandai here.
The ex-CM said that a prosperous and developed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained the mission and dream of the ANP, and if given another opportunity to come into power, his party would once again put the province and the Pashtuns on the path to development.
He said the province was currently engulfed in severe political, economic and law-and-order crises, but the chief minister and his members of the provincial assembly were preoccupied with personal interests and party-based political agendas instead of addressing public hardships.
On the occasion, ANP activists Fazalur Rehman Binyamin, Mian Nasrullah Bacha and Zahoor Hussain Mohmand also addressed the gathering. Mardan City Mayor Himayatullah Mayar, Haroon Khan, central leader Farooq Akram Khan, provincial leader Malik Ijaz Khan, Muhammad Ayub Yousafzai, Mian Tahir advocate, Ghulam Rasool, Tariq Khan, Mian Saeedullah, Israr Khan Mohmand, Farhan Takkar, Malik Hassan Khan, Adnan Sail, Sajjad Khan, Mian Isa, Usman Qamar and others were also present.
Haider Hoti said that during the PTI government, corruption and maladministration increased significantly in the province. He alleged that evidence of large-scale financial corruption, along with allegations of links between certain government and political figures and terrorist elements, had emerged, further worsening the law-and-order situation in the province.
Criticising the incumbent Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, he said that he was allegedly busy with a street movement aimed at safeguarding the political interests of “prisoner number 804,” while completely ignoring the province’s fundamental issues and the hardships faced by the public.
Expressing serious concern over ongoing operations in the Tirah Valley, Haider Hoti said that millions of people were being displaced as a result of these actions, yet the government had failed to provide timely assistance or present any clear plan for the proper rehabilitation of the affected families.
He said the situation had taken the shape of a major humanitarian crisis.
He made it clear that his party firmly believes in democracy, transparent elections and the supremacy of the Constitution, and that any unconstitutional action or electoral rigging would not be accepted. He said the protection of the political, economic and social rights of the Pashtun people was essential.
He also demanded full implementation of provincial autonomy, fair distribution of resources and complete enforcement of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
He stressed that sustainable development in the province and the country depends on peace and stability, and that eliminating terrorism and ensuring regional development require trust-based and respectful relations with neighbouring countries.
He said the solution to the challenges facing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa does not lie in political slogans, but in constitutional supremacy, democratic processes, public welfare and serious governance, adding that followers of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement must prepare themselves and remain active in the present era.
