KHAR: Former MNA from Bajaur Agency, Shahabuddin Khan, on Monday quit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after he submitted his nomination papers for a National Assembly seat here as an independent candidate.

“I have been associated with PML-N for last five years, but I was not comfortable in the party owing to discriminative and undemocratic attitude of the leadership,” he said while speaking to reporters after filing nomination papers for NA-40 to the returning officer here.

Mr Shahabuddin said there was no respect for workers in the party, and even the lawmakers belonging to backward areas of the country had no say in the party matters.

He said joining of PML-N was a bad experience of his life, pointing out that senior party leaders, including former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, did not take on board the Fata lawmakers on any issue.

The former lawmaker alleged that the previous PML-N government was not interested in execution of the Fata reforms, saying that joint efforts of tribal lawmakers, youths, and political activists forced it to table the Fata reforms bill in the parliament.

He said passage of Fata reforms bill would bring revolutionary changes in the region, adding repealing of FCR and merger of Fata with KP was his dream come true.

To a question, he said senior leaders of different political parties had requested him to join their parties and even offered the party tickets, but he refused as the central and provincial leaderships of all political parties did not respect the tribal lawmakers.

He said he had formed a Fata Reforms Movement to force the government to implement the reforms process without delay.

According to him, he was satisfied with his job and will easily win the NA-41 seat in the next elections.

Mr Shahabuddin said his son, Israrudddin, would contest polls from NA-40, also as an independent candidate.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2018