PESHAWAR: Levelling corruption charges against Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and finance minister Muzafar Said, former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf minister and MPA Ziaullah Afridi on Tuesday announced that he would soon stage a sit-in outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission offices in the provincial capital to force the anti-corruption body into acting against the two.

Addressing a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Mr Ziaullah criticised ruling PTI’s chief Imran Khan and Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq for not taking action against the CM and finance minister over the illegal appointment of the Bank of Khyber’s managing director.

He declared the appointment of the BOK MD a big scandal and said if the matter was properly investigated, then Sirajul Haq’s position would be worse than PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s in line with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

The former minister said the JI chief was ruining the richest bank (BOK) of the poorest province by protecting his party’s minister (Muzafar Said).

Former PTI minister flays Imran, Siraj over silence on ‘illegal’ BOK appointment

He urged the people to raise voice against the government over failure to control massive corruption.

Mr Ziaullah said if Imran Khan and Sirajul Haq were really sincere about eliminating corruption in the province, then the two should order the immediate handing over of the CM and finance minister to the KPEC for accountability.

He insisted that the CM had established the KPEC just to victimise his political rivals and that the CM himself was involved in illegal appointments but no action had been taken against him.

The former minister alleged that scores of people, including the MD and members of board of directors, had been appointed to the BOK illegally and in violation of merit proving that the PTI and JI were not serious about eliminating corruption from the province.

He also demanded probe into the irregularities in the grant of loans by the BOK to influential people in other provinces.

Mr Ziaullah said Imran Khan had nothing to do with the issues and challenges facing Pakhtuns as his entire focus was on Punjab and therefore, he was leveling baseless allegations against political rivals.

He also alleged that the PTI chief’s close friend, Rashid Khan, was involved in the sale of the BOK shares and thus, depriving the province of its valuable assets.

The former minister said both Imran Khan and Sirajul Haq claimed that the provincial government had provided easy justice to the local residents and controlled corruption, but ironically, both had failed to prove their credibility in the BOK case.

He said Imran Khan was misguiding the people of Punjab by claiming in public meetings that his party’s government had brought about a real change in governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Ziaullah claimed that the provincial government had failed to deliver the goods during the last four years to the misery of the people.

He said he had secured ‘solid’ evidence of the corrupt practices of the KP ruling parties and would soon make them public through media.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2017