PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and other political parties to join hands to secure the province’s rights from the federal government to overcome poverty, unemployment and economic problems in the province.

He was addressing a news conference at the QWP’s secretariat here on Saturday.

On the occasion, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers from Charsadda led by the party’s district president, Zahoor Khan, joined the QWP.

Several senior party leaders, including provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, were also present on the occasion.

The QWP chairman said the issues of net hydel profit and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor also needed prompt attention to help the province get due share in mega projects.

He said it was very pathetic that the federal government had confined its activities to a particular area and totally ignored Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and thus, creating a sense of deprivation among the people in the province.

Mr. Sherpao urged the government to start work on census and said the underdeveloped areas should get share in national resources on basis of population. He appreciated the Supreme Court chief justice to take a suo motu notice of the matter and said only the census could help smaller federating units get due share in national resources under the NFC Award and 18th Amendment.

The QWP chief urged the federal government to avoid creating problems for the distribution of resources among provinces, especially to KP, which, he said, had heavily suffered due to militancy, floods and displacement of people during the last many years.

He said the PTI government in the province should force the federal government to announce the NFC Award after consulting other political parties of the province.

Mr. Sherpao said unless the NFC Award was announced, the grievances of backward provinces wouldn’t be removed as the issues like poverty, unemployment and loadshedding had made the people’s lives extremely miserable.

He said the QWP would take part in the multi-party conference to be held on July 19 in Islamabad on the controversial Panama leaks.

The QWP chief said an independent commission should be set up to probe the Panama leaks issue with delay.

He said his party didn’t favour Nawaz Sharif resigning from the prime minister’s office until he was proved guilty of committing anything wrong.

Mr. Sherpao said the current Turkey crisis had created unrest among Muslims across the world.

He said Pakistan should serve the people across the country to cement its relations with Turkey.

The QWP chief said the Turkish people had courageously foiled the coup attempt and thus, saving their country from a ‘big incident and civil war’.

He said the Turkish people had reposed trust in their political leadership and therefore, those behind the coup bid should face trial.

Mr. Sherpao said if Turkey was destabilised, it would further destabilise the Muslim world.

He said terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan could be controlled by coordinated efforts by both the countries.

“Both the countries should remove the recent mistrust for good relations,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2016