PESHAWAR/HARIPUR: Qaumi Watan Party Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Sunday expresses his serious concern over the recent increase in prices of essential commodities and said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf would face a crushing defeat in the next general election.

He expressed these views while addressing a gathering after inaugurating his party’s office in Peshawar city. He said the people were fed up with the PTI government and wanted to get rid of it as early as possible.

“The PTI will suffer a crushing defeat if free and fair election is held,” Mr Sherpao said, adding the PTI should consider itself lucky if it managed to complete its five-year term despite its poor performance and flawed policies.

Sherpao claims PTI will face crushing defeat in next general election

He said that the rulers were in the habit of blaming the previous governments to hide their incompetence and weaknesses. The government, he said, was following the policies of IMF, which had added to people’s miseries.

The QWP chief said that the government had set a target of Rs610 billion for petroleum levy. He said the additional taxes would cause unprecedented increase in prices of daily use essential commodities.

He said that the residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were facing prolonged power outages though the province produced surplus electricity than its routine consumption. He said that inflation and joblessness had made life miserable for the have-nots.

Mr Sherpao urged the workers to step up efforts for strengthening the party units in respective areas in order to ensure success of their candidates in coming elections.

In Haripur, QWP provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said that midterm election was not a sustainable solution to the prevailing economic and governance crises in the country. He stressed that election reforms could help establish true democracy through fair and transparent elections in the country.

He was speaking to mediapersons at the residence of party’s provincial vice-chairperson Dr Faiza Rasheed during a visit to Haripur on Sunday.

“We do not see any relief in the midterm election for masses who are heavily burdened with the price hike, indirect taxation and increasing povertyratio,” he said.

Answering a question about use of electronic voting machine, he termed the plan in this regard as unfeasible for the voters of remote areas of the country, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its merged districts.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2021