KOHAT: Awami National Party provincial chief Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has stressed that his party does not accept any dividing line between Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as people of both the regions speak the same language and have same culture and religion.

Addressing a pre-poll consultative political jirga in Ustarzai here on Sunday, he alleged that doors were closed on Pakhtuns in Punjab and Sindh.

He said if the ANP came into power it would immediately demand holding of the National Finance Commission Award and would strongly oppose any attempt to roll back the 18th amendment which guaranteed provincial autonomy. He said his party won’t rest until bringing more powers to the provinces.

Says ANP will strongly oppose any attempt to roll back 18th amendment

Mr Hoti said oil and gas royalty funds should be spent on the welfare of the people of the backward southern districts. He said he was on a visit to the southern districts to tell the people it was only ANP which could safeguard their rights. He claimed that the previous ANP government had spent millions of rupees on uplift of the backward region.

The ANP provincial president criticised the incumbent government for installing costly imported coal-run power plants in Punjab and Balochistan. He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had vast potential in producing hydropower, but the province was always neglected by the successive governments.

He said if came to power, the ANP would generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity from indigenous resources for the province which would generate a revenue of Rs60 billion.

He said the PML-N government had spread a network of motorways in Punjab, but neglected KP.

He promised that his party would establish technical institutions for the youth and provide them interest-free loans of up to Rs1.5 million to start their own businesses irrespective of their political affiliations.

He said his government had spread a network of colleges and universities in KP during its tenure. However, he alleged that the PTI government had not built a single university or college.

Mr Hoti said thousands of acres of land was lying barren in the province which could be cultivated if water reservoirs were built.

He claimed that the ANP government had approved an oil refinery in oil and gas-rich southern region of KP, but the PTI government did not give it practical shape.

The ANP chief demanded expulsion of those MPAs from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf who, he alleged, had sold their votes during the Senate elections.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2018