MARDAN: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has asked the central government to remove reservations of Pakhtuns about their share in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

He was addressing a party meeting in Ghari Kapoora area here on Sunday. Former nazim Abdul Salam Khan anlong with his family members and friends announced to join QWP on the occasion.

Mr Sherpao said that steps should be taken for timely completion of CPEC and its protection as the project would bring revolutionary changes in the entire region. “The federal government should ensure that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gets is due share in the CPEC schemes,” he said. He also demanded of the federal government to convene the meeting of National Finance Commission for timely issuance of the NFC award to distribute revenue among the provinces and the centre.

Sherpao says delay in NFC award hampering development of KP

‘‘The National Finance Commission is a constitutional body formed under Article 160 of the Constitution. It consists of the representatives of the four provinces and federal government. The commission is tasked with the responsibility of coming up with a five-year agreement on how to distribute revenues from the federal divisible pool of taxes,’ said Mr Sherpao.

He alleged that the PML-N government was reluctant to finalise NFC award. Delay in finalisation of NFC award was hampering development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said.

The QWP chief said that diplomatic channels should be used to establish friendly relations with neighbouring Afghanistan in order to avoid isolation in the region.

“We have cultural, religious and social relations with Afghanistan. Friendly relations will provide tremendous opportunities of business and development to the entire region and Pakistan can become a gateway for exports to the energy-rich Central Asian states,” he added.

Mr Sherpao said that Fata should be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without any delay to end deprivation of Pakhtuns in the tribal belt. He said that tribal Pakhtuns rendered numerous sacrifices for the country but they were still living under a black law.

The QWP chief also expressed concerns over delay in holding census. He said that a bill in that regard was already tabled in the National Assembly. However, the federal government was not responding to the bill, which was depriving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of its rights, he added.

Mr Sherpao claimed that his party would sweep the upcoming general elections as it was working for the rights of Pakhtuns. He also lauded the efforts of the armed forces in uprooting terrorism and said that people of Pakhtunkhwa would fight alongside army in case of any threat to the country from foreign aggressors.

Published in Dawn September 26th, 2016