PESHAWAR: Opposition leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi on Wednesday warned that the province could face a big disaster after the withdrawal of Nato forces from Afghanistan.

Speaking during a news conference here at the assembly secretariat along with parliamentary leaders and MPAs of Awami National Party, Qaumi Watan Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Pakistan People’s Party, Mr Abbasi portrayed a very bleak picture of the region, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, once Nato pulled its forces out of Afghanistan.

He said the federal and provincial governments should prepare themselves for facing any eventuality in the province.

“I can’t explain this specifically, but it will be disastrous for the province and therefore, the centre and the provincial government should work out a joint strategy on a war footing otherwise everyone will be the loser,” he said.

The joint opposition has decided to requisition the assembly session in the coming days.

Mr Abbasi said the US and its Nato allies had planned to pull their troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year and since Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had become a flashpoint, pressure on it would increase in the coming months due to the Nato troops’ exit from Afghanistan.

He asked the provincial government not to opt for confrontation with the federal government on ‘irrelevant and minor’ issues.

“The province should prepare itself for the terrible situation that will arise after the withdrawal of the foreign troops from Afghanistan,” he said.

The opposition leader said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its allies should review its protest against Nato supplies and allow foreign troops to ship their equipment out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.

He termed the seven months performance of the PTI-led coalition government very pathetic and said the government had disappointed the people of the province.

Mr Abbasi declared bad governance, law and order situation and un-utilised funds of the current annual development programme three major issues confronting the provincial government.

“We can’t see the government (exist) in this province although the opposition gave it full support and did not create hurdle to its functioning,” he said.

The opposition leader said surprisingly, the government didn’t utilise ADP so far and that it would impossible to spend such huge amount in the next four months of the current fiscal.

He said opposition parties in the House gave sufficient time to the government to show its performance but the latter failed to deliver.

Asked about the possibility of in-house change in the province, Mr Abbasi said the opposition would not destabilise the government, but it could use its democratic right in this respect anytime.

He said the opposition was very strong in the House and would continue giving tough time to the government to expose its wrongdoings.

The opposition leader complained that the government was ignoring the opposition during the distribution of resources despite the fact that the opposition was very strong in the provincial assembly for the first time in history.

“Like treasury members, opposition benches have an equal right to the resources,” he said.

Mr Abbasi said the provincial government did not highlight serious issues that could be discussed during a meeting of the Council of Common Interest, the highest constitutional body.

He said non-payment of net hydel profit was an old issue, which had become a bone of contention between the centre and the province.

The opposition leader said CCI was an effective forum and the provincial government should take serious issues facing the province to the body for resolution.