PESHAWAR: Showing reservations over the results of Feb 8 general elections, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) said representatives of Pakhtuns were kept out of parliament under a conspiracy.

According to a statement issued here, QWP chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said that now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be dealt as a periphery and the problems it was facing would not be given due importance. “The people have been deprived of their true representation for the third term by design,” he alleged.

He said that the polls were not held in a free, fair and transparent manner, considering its unexpected outcome. Expressing reservations over the entire election process and its outcome, he said that disunity harmed people.

“Misunderstanding and lack of unity undermined the people,” he said. He added that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not vote for a cause or ideology. “The problems faced the province will be placed on the backburner as voters did not vote on the basis of issues,” said Mr Sherpao.

Raising objections to the electoral exercise, he said that 2024 elections were continuation of the 2018 managed polls. “Keeping the true representatives of the Pakhtuns out of parliament would have negative consequences for their areas,” he maintained.

He said that political forces were expecting that the elections would help to restore the confidence of people and bring an end to the prevailing political and economic uncertainty, but unfortunately that did not happen.

The QWP chief said that general elections were riddled with irregularities and created doubts about their transparency. He said that his party would try to prevent the situation from taking an ugly turn in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of the general elections.

“We will spare no effort to forge unity among the people and remove the clouds of uncertainty hovering over the political landscape,” he said.

Mr Sherpao said that the outcome of the elections was unexpected across the country. “It seems that elections were managed,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2024