Adjournment motion planned against Imran’s participation in govt meetings

The Express Tribune

Deeming it “unethical”, the Awami National Party (ANP) will submit an adjournment motion against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for participating in provincial government meetings. “On Monday (today) I will submit the adjournment motion at the Assembly Secretariat. We want to know in what capacity Imran Khan presides and participates in the provincial cabinet’s official meetings and meets with the department secretaries,” said ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak. Opposition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), will also support the adjournment motion. They too believe it is unethical for a party’s president to preside in government meetings, added Babak. “We do respect him (Imran Khan) as a political party leader but there were political parties in the past who governed the province – their central leaders did not interfere in administrative affairs. They (PTI) have made a mockery of the system.” Babak claimed the PTI leadership refrains from openly condemning terrorists and talking against terrorism, the main issue which Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa faces. The party has diverted the people’s attention to less important issues, maintained the ANP parliamentary leader. “They (PTI) are confused. They don’t even know how to govern a province. Now they are inducting PTI members who lost the elections into working groups across government departments.” The ANP will soon issue a white paper which will highlight the PTI’s performance and bad governance, added Babak. Commenting on the ANP’s campaign for the by-polls – NA-1 Peshawar and NA-5 Nowshera in particular – Babak claimed the party has the people’s mandate and will defeat PTI candidates in these constituencies. He accused the PTI of using the government machinery to influence the electoral results in their favor in Nowshera, Swabi and Mardan. “Chief Minister Pervez Khattak is influencing by-polls in Nowshera where his son-in-law Imran Khattak is contesting, while K-P Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser is announcing developmental projects in Swabi where his younger brother Aqibullah is contesting.”