PESHAWAR: The Qaumi Watan Party is likely to rejoin the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government as it has already finalised an agreement with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on the formation of district government in Charsadda.

Provincial Minister for Information Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani also confirmed that negotiations between the two parties had been held and QWP had in principle agreed to join the KP government very soon.

A reliable source said that PTI leaders, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, had contacted the QWP leadership before the May 30 local government elections and invited it to rejoin the provincial government.

However, QWP’s response was that they would like wait till results of the LG elections. In this connection, a meeting of the QWP was held at its central secretariat here on Sunday wherein the participants expressed their views.

It has finalised the alliance with PTI in Charsadda and succeeded to get its support in the election of district nazim.

“Yes, the reports about PTI’s offer for rejoining the government are correct, but our party has not yet taken a decision on it,” QWP provincial secretary information Tariq Kan told Dawn. He said that during the meeting the party office-bearers gave the authority to central chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao to take a decision on rejoining the government.

Makes alliance with PTI for forming district govt in Charsadda

Mr Tariq said that PTI and QWP were allies in the formation of district government in Charsadda where Jamaat-i-Islami was also part of the process and negotiations were underway to bring Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl into the fold.

“We have not yet finalised name of the would-be district nazim, but it is sure that our party will get the slot and the seat of naib nazim will go to Jamaat-i-Islami,” he said.

The QWP leader said that details about the alliance and power sharing formula at the district level would be shared with media persons in Peshawar on Monday.

Provincial minister for information also confirmed that it was decided in principle that QWP would join the government, but it was yet to present its conditions for the purpose. “We hope it will soon join the government,” he said in his brief comment on the issue while talking to this correspondent on phone.

Meanwhile, the QWP chairman on Sunday expressed concerns over Afghan president Ashraf Ghani’s statement against Pakistan and asked the federal government to take solid steps to end the neighboring country’s reservations. Speaking during a meeting at Watan Kor here, he said that such statements by the Afghan leadership could create vacuum in relations between the two countries.

“Both the states have remained the victim of terrorism and extremism for a long time and it is time for them to revitalise and re-establish cordial and friendly relations so as to bring long-lasting peace and economic prosperity in the region,” Mr Sherpao said.

About the provinces’ share in federal budget 2015-16, he said that the federal government had again ignored small provinces like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in allocation of development funds. He demanded of the federal government to allocate maximum funds for the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2015

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