CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday said after the confession of former principal secretary to the prime minster Azam Khan it had been established that the cipher conspiracy was based on lies and it was Imran Khan, who had ‘conspired’ against the nation.

Addressing a gathering of party workers in his native Sherpao village here, he said the time had come to take Imran Khan to task and get him punished for all this wrongdoings, including the Al-Qadir Trust case.

Mr Sherpao said it was the former prime minister, who had sabotaged the International Monetary Fund’s programme during his tenure.

The QWP leader said the PTI chairman had launched a tirade against the state institutions and the Election Commission of Pakistan after his ouster from power. “He had constructed his so-called regime change narrative on the basis of the cipher, but it now stands exposed after his former principal secretary’s confession,” he remarked.

Condemning the May 9 mayhem, he said attacking the army installations was a serious crime, and that its masterminds and perpetrators should be punished.

Mr Sherpao said as the National Assembly was going to complete its five-year term in August it must pass the electoral reforms to ensure the holding of the free and fair elections.

Expressing reservations about the figures of the recently-conducted digital census, he said the headcount recorded less increase in the population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and this would have serious economic consequences for the province.

Asking the caretaker provincial set-up to take up the issue at the upcoming meeting of the Council of Common Interests, Aftab Sherpao said the KP government must not accept the census data as this would amount to compromising on the rights of the province.

“If this wrong data was accepted, this would affect all the indicators and allocations of funds under the National Finance Commission award would also see reduction.”

He said the IMF’s bailout package had not produced the desired results as the dollar rate did not witness any considerable decrease while inflation was also skyrocketing. He asked the government to activate the price control mechanism and take other steps to provide relief to the have-nots.

The QWP leader said KP produced surplus electricity but its residents still faced prolonged power outages.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2023