PESHAWAR: Following facing defeat in the July 25 general elections, the Qaumi Watan Party leadership has decided to reorganise the party and accommodate educated youth in the organisational units to strengthen it in different districts of the province.

The decision was taken in a meeting of QWP provincial executive council held here on Sunday with provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao in the chair.QWP provincial general secretary Hashim Khan Babar, provincial secretary information Tariq Khan, Asad Khan Afridi and divisional office-bearers also spoke on the occasion.

The speakers said that the mandate of QWP candidates was stolen. They said that their candidates had received congratulations for exceeding of their votes during initial count but the results were changed in the night.

The participants of the meeting through a unanimously adopted resolution reposed confidence in the leadership of the party and approved changes in the organisational structure when and where the leadership deemed fit. Sikandar Sherpao said that everyone knew about the election results. He said that QWP was a representative political party of Pakhtuns.

“We will continue to raise issues relating to rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and will not compromise on principles. Keeping the Pakhtun leadership out of the parliament is really injustice with the people but it does not meant that the party will stop raising issues of Pakhtuns’ interests,” said Mr Sherpao.

He said that defeat in polls did not mean that one should lose heart or sit silent. “We are representing millions of people and will make all kinds of efforts to get our mandate back at all costs,” he added.

Mr Sherpao asked QWP office-bearers to submit written suggestions to the provincial secretariat of the party in case they felt any change was necessary in the organisational units so that all the decisions could be taken in consensus.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2018