PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders said on Saturday that terrorism cannot be attributed to any single party or decision, warning that they would not allow an illegally formed government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to function.
Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, PTI leaders Salman Akram Raja, Junaid Akbar and Asad Qaiser said that the party stands with the nation’s martyrs, the state and the rule of law, and seeks progress and stability in the province and the country.
They were speaking a day after Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry blamed the governance failure in KP for the loss of soldiers’ and civilians’ lives and warned that politics or convenience must not be allowed to cost more blood.
Lt-Gen Sharif Chaudhry said at a press conference that terrorists and their facilitators had been given space in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under a deliberate plan.
He said governance and public welfare had been deliberately undermined in the province, the cost of which its brave people were still paying in blood.
PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja alleged attempts were under way to block a constitutional change in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by unconstitutional means and that the party was being intimidated.
He said that the PTI stands with those who sacrificed their lives for the country and opposed those who view the nation with hostility. “The cycle of conflict must end,” he said.
Raja said that the province has suffered for a decade and that terrorism cannot be blamed on a single party or decision.
“Tell us which terrorist has been settled inside the country,” he demanded. He urged that everyone be included in decision-making, saying violence and explosives are not the solution. He recalled a 2021 proposal that the government rejected and that a decision had been taken to hold talks in the National Security Council.
Raja also said terrorism was at its lowest during PTI’s tenure and that relations with Afghanistan were good about three and a half years ago. He rejected accusations of treason and said that the PTI is a well-wisher of Pakistan. He described the change in the chief minister’s office as a new beginning and denied any rivalry, accusing the province of being placed under governor-rule.
He vowed to improve governance in the province, saying the situation worsened after a power vacuum was created.
Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said that the newly nominated chief minister Sohail Afridi was a rightful candidate for the chief minister’s office and warned the party would not allow an unlawfully formed government to run.
PTI KP President Junaid Akbar said that the party would vigorously defend its provincial government and that the mandate of the province belonged to PTI. He said bringing about change is a constitutional right.
He alleged the federal government was trying to thwart the change in the chief minister’s office but said the PTI stood with the nominated candidate Sohail Afridi. He said that contacts with other parties had been positive and they would protect their votes.
Akbar said that if a chief minister resigns his resignation is immediately accepted and it is then the responsibility of the provincial assembly and its speaker to elect a new chief minister.
He also urged that military-operation decisions be taken with consensus and said negotiations should be sought to resolve terrorism.
Akbar challenged anyone to prove that any of PTI’s 92 members had defected even by one vote, warning that if the party’s votes were broken they would make life difficult for the culprits. He insisted the party and its founder could not be weakened by defections.