DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Five members of the National Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have rebelled against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, stating that the chief minister is a hurdle in the way of change.
Addressing a crowded press conference here on Sunday, MNAs Dawar Kundi, Amirullah Marwat, Sajid Nawaz, Khayal Zaman Afridi and Junaid Akbar said that KP was heading towards devastation because of Khattak. They rose in rebellion against Khattak and said that they would continue their struggle till removal of the chief minister.
The MNAs levelled allegations of corruption against the provincial government and various ministers during their press conference. Some members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) along with the local representatives of the Awami National Party (ANP) and members of the PTI’s forward bloc were also present during the press conference.
The PTI MNAs were of the view that the chief minister was sidelining party chief Imran Khan through a well-planned strategy, adding that provincial ministers were equally involved. They stated that local council elections were held a year ago, but local councils had not been transferred powers yet. They said the corrupt lot was a hurdle in the way of transfer of powers to the local councils.
The dissenting MNAs said that corruption was at its peak in the departments of water management, revenue and education and the opposition in the province had failed to play its role because the chief minister had made everyone his ally.
The people’s representatives said that the funds of the entire province were being spent in three districts — Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi. They were of the view that change could only be brought about by changing the system. They said that Khattak had proved to be a traditional politician. They stated that three years had passed, but the condition of the province had not changed and this forced them to take action.
