PESHAWAR, Aug 2 (APP): Cracks are surfacing in relations between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and PTI chief Imran Khan, as the latter is dismayed over poor performance of the Khattak government which is weakening in face of the onslaught mounted by his dissident group in the party.
Imran Khan, swept the polls in the province on promise of bringing a change, but he was now unhappy as many questions he raised during a recent public meeting got the negative response due to the lackluster performance of his chosen chief minister Khattak.
Despite lapse of three years, serious questions are being raised both within the PTI and from the people who do not see the promised change in their province.
The dissident group in the party do not hide the developing divisions within the party and the disappointment in their central leadership as their government cannot produce the results expected of it.
PTI dissident MNA, Khiyal Zaman Orakzai while expressing concern over performance of KP government, has said no change is witnessed in the province. It is also admitted by party chief, Imran Khan, adding the dissidents would come on road against their government if their concerns were not addressed.
Khiyal Zaman while commenting on the situation said party chairman, Imran Khan has openly admitted he is not satisfied with the performance of KP government that is why he came hard on party leadership in the province by clipping the powers of the chief minister depriving him of his discretionary powers.
“The objective behind formation of dissident group in PTI was to apprise party leadership that the pledges made with people at time of elections are not being fulfilled and people are becoming annoyed with the slogan of change,” says Khiyal Zaman.
He said it is the beauty of PTI leadership that it tolerated dissent within the party and gave appropriate hearing to the complaints.
“Our party chief, Imran Khan converted our eleven point demand into 13 which is reflective of the fact that our objections were reasonable and accepted by party leadership.”
MNA Khiyal Zaman Orakzai warned “if our 11-point demand was not accepted within due period of time, we will come on roads to lodge our protest.”
Some insiders are pointing fingers over the allocation of development funds as they claim Khattak has been diverting funds away to his own constituency while ignoring others of their due share.
Orakzai also agreed with the allegation that KP government was making undue distribution of development funds giving lion’s share to the districts belonging to the party leaders and neglecting others.
According to the political pundits in the province, KP Chief Minister is allocating billions of rupees to Nowshera district from where he belongs and Swabi district from where Speaker KP Assembly, Asad Qaiser belongs. It is creating unrest among the party ranks, they added.
Whereas other districts including remote and very backward Tank district, which deserves maximum funds, has received very meager share, they observed.
“Undue favour at the expense of more deserving areas has caused regional disparity,” the analysts said.
MNA Khiyal Zaman upholding the allegations said, funds were misused and favorites were getting maximum share while deserving areas were neglected.
He demanded the party leadership to restore KP Ehtesab Commission in its original form and the amendments due to which its Director General, Gen (Retd) Hamid Khan had resigned, should be repealed.
Similarly, he added, the allegations of corruption made by former Chief of Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO), Shakeel Durrani against some bigwigs of the PTI leadership should be investigated by Ehtesab Commission of KP.
The allegations pointed out by former DG KPEC Gen (Retd) Hamid Khan, former PEDO Chief Shakeel Durrani, and former Director Anti-Corruption Establishment, Ziaullah Toru against the corrupt elements should be investigated, by a fully authorized and independent Ehtesab Commission.
Col ® Ameerullah Marwat MNA expressing grave concern over the performance of the PTI government in the province said if the corrective steps were not taken in time, the party would face the same fate like the ANP and MMA in the next general election.
The unjust distribution of the uplift funds, massive utilization of the discretionary funds by the CM in his home district and those of the Speaker and Education Minister, making the Ehtesab Commission toothless by amending the Ehtesab Bill were few matters of serious concerns for the PTI legislators to be addressed forthright.
The dissident group wants the PTI to progress and flourish in the province through its good governance, decency and across the board of accountability. “We cannot tolerate the corrupt elements within our ranks and in the government departments,” one of them said.
The political observers believe that intra party bickering would prove disastrous for the PTI in the next elections as Imran Khan is too perturbed over what is going in the province.
