PESHAWAR, Aug 20: The Pakistan People’s Party has claimed that it will form the next provincial government as a large number of political forces have started rallying around it.

Speaking at a joint news conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, PPP provincial chief Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti said his party had completed a number of development projects for the uplift of society and served the people during its successive tenures. “We are a party of common people, which believes in the might of the people for the betterment of the people,” he added.

PPP central executive members Syed Qamar Abbas, Masood Kausar, Masood Sharif Khan Khattak and Abdul Akbar Khan were present on the occasion.

Former NWFP chief minister Arbab Mohammad Jehangir Khan, who won a national assembly seat in 1997 on the Awami National Party ticket, and his son, Arbab Alamgir Khan, also spoke on the occasion and announced to rejoin the PPP. Jehangir avoided to explain the reasons of his dissociation with the ANP.

“Neither I will point a finger towards anybody, nor criticise any leader or party. I have never opted for this sort of politics. I will explain all this in my life story,” he added.

He denied that he had demanded some seats from the ANP or made a deal with the PPP for tickets. “I am not in the run. I have decided not to contest for any seat in the coming elections. My son, if party allots him ticket, will contest,” he added.

The people of his area and his son (Alamgir), he said, forced him to join the PPP, which had a great grip[ over the common people. He would work for the success of the party candidates in the coming elections, he added.

Jehangir said he won eight times from his area in the past. “I am grateful to the people who got me elected four times as MNA and four times as MPA. I have served my people and I hope my son will also serve them in future,” he added.

Expressing his confidence in the leadership of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and PPP provincial chief Hoti, Alamgir pledged that he would remain loyal to the party and abide by PPP political agenda.

The PPP was the only party, he said, that was a national party and had its roots in the masses. Hoti welcomed Alamgir and his father into the fold of the PPP and hoped that their association would give a new strength to the party.