Performance of KP govt unsatisfactory: JI chief
PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawwar Hassan, whose party is a major coalition partner in the provincial government, said on Tuesday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s performance was unsatisfactory and his party had taken up the issue with the chief minister.
“We believe the provincial government has failed to show urgency in solving problems faced by people. We don’t see the progress that should have been made,” he told a press conference at Al-Markaz-e-Islami, where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sirajul Haq flanked him. “We have raised the issue of the coalition government’s (poor) performance with the chief minister. We are discussing it,” he added.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was reported on Tuesday to have said he would dissolve the provincial assembly if his party was ‘pushed to the wall.’ The coalition has been under intense pressure to deliver, as people want them to show performance in the initial months of its rule in the province, as promised by Imran Khan. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had set August 31 for showing ‘change’ to people in the province, but it remains unclear as to what he would do in the next four days that would bring about ‘change.’
However, Syed Munawwar Hassan did not like Imran Khan’s statement about dissolving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and advised him to refrain from churning out statements as ‘it sometimes worsen matters instead of improving.’ “Imran Khan must realise now that he is in power and it would better for him not to issue so many statements,” he replied to a question with a smile on his face.
Other JI leaders including central Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, provincial chief Prof Muhammad Ibrahim, JI’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Sahibzada Tariqullah and others also attended the press conference.
The JI chief said the May 11 general elections were ‘engineered’ and hoped facts would soon unfold. He said that the political parties that had won majority were also complaining of rigging in the general elections. “This has happened for the first time in the electoral history of the country,” he said, underscoring the intensity of the rigging. He alleged that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was swerving from its manifesto by begging loan from the IMF and World Bank. “Now they have the begging bowl hanging from their neck,” he said, reminding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of his promise of breaking the begging bowl.
He said Nawaz Sharif had promised to solve the issue of loadshedding and price-hike in the first few months of his government, but now he was saying that these problems would end in five years. “People waited for five years for the solution of loadshedding and price-hike problems but now this government is asking them to wait for five more years,” he lamented.
About the issue of talks with militants, Syed Munawwar Hassan said the government should accept talks offer by Taliban as a first step towards starting negotiations with the militants. He said talks was the best way to solve problems but expressed concern the American government and ‘secular lobby’ in the country did not want peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
He hailed talks between President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said his party would welcome any step taken for peace between the two countries.
PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawwar Hassan, whose party is a major coalition partner in the provincial government, said on Tuesday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s performance was unsatisfactory and his party had taken up the issue with the chief minister.
“We believe the provincial government has failed to show urgency in solving problems faced by people. We don’t see the progress that should have been made,” he told a press conference at Al-Markaz-e-Islami, where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sirajul Haq flanked him. “We have raised the issue of the coalition government’s (poor) performance with the chief minister. We are discussing it,” he added.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was reported on Tuesday to have said he would dissolve the provincial assembly if his party was ‘pushed to the wall.’ The coalition has been under intense pressure to deliver, as people want them to show performance in the initial months of its rule in the province, as promised by Imran Khan. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had set August 31 for showing ‘change’ to people in the province, but it remains unclear as to what he would do in the next four days that would bring about ‘change.’
However, Syed Munawwar Hassan did not like Imran Khan’s statement about dissolving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and advised him to refrain from churning out statements as ‘it sometimes worsen matters instead of improving.’ “Imran Khan must realise now that he is in power and it would better for him not to issue so many statements,” he replied to a question with a smile on his face.
Other JI leaders including central Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, provincial chief Prof Muhammad Ibrahim, JI’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Sahibzada Tariqullah and others also attended the press conference.
The JI chief said the May 11 general elections were ‘engineered’ and hoped facts would soon unfold. He said that the political parties that had won majority were also complaining of rigging in the general elections. “This has happened for the first time in the electoral history of the country,” he said, underscoring the intensity of the rigging. He alleged that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was swerving from its manifesto by begging loan from the IMF and World Bank. “Now they have the begging bowl hanging from their neck,” he said, reminding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of his promise of breaking the begging bowl.
He said Nawaz Sharif had promised to solve the issue of loadshedding and price-hike in the first few months of his government, but now he was saying that these problems would end in five years. “People waited for five years for the solution of loadshedding and price-hike problems but now this government is asking them to wait for five more years,” he lamented.
About the issue of talks with militants, Syed Munawwar Hassan said the government should accept talks offer by Taliban as a first step towards starting negotiations with the militants. He said talks was the best way to solve problems but expressed concern the American government and ‘secular lobby’ in the country did not want peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
He hailed talks between President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said his party would welcome any step taken for peace between the two countries.