PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Monday called for a national dialogue to help address the country’s current challenges.
Addressing a convention of party workers in Abbottabad, Mr Sharpao said that the country was passing through a critical phase of its history, so all political forces should rise above political divides to help address the present-day challenges.
He expressed concern over the renewed hostilities between the US and Iran and said that the conflict would threaten regional peace and stability.
The QWP leader said that though the US and Israel had started the Middle East conflict, they failed to achieve their objectives.
Urges political forces to forge unity
He said that Iran remained steadfast and weathered the crisis by forging unity in its ranks.
The QWP leader lauded the civil and military leadership of the country for helping the warring sides reach the memorandum of understanding and that playing the role of the mediator added to Pakistan’s prestige at the international level.
On national issues, he said that Pakistan faced the resurgence of terrorism, with the acts of violence taking place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Mr Sherpao said that though the police and the security forces were rendering sacrifices to restore peace, the situation was worsening, with both federal and provincial governments responsible for failing to tackle terrorism.
He said that though the federal government was claiming improvement in the economy, the ground realities belied the assertion.
“We have not seen any trickle-down effect of any improvement in the economy. The poor are getting poorer day by day,” he said.
The QWP leader said that the federal government was acting on the dictates of the International Monetary Fund with no regard for the problems of the poor people.
He said that India was hurting Pakistan by suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, so the federal government should raise the issue at the international level to secure the country’s water resources.
Coming down hard on the provincial government, Mr Sherpao said that the PTI had been ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last 13 years but its leaders were concerned about the release of their incarcerated leader Imran Khan and not the people’s welfare.
He said that KP’s debt had crossed over Rs1 trillion mark under the PTI’s rule.
The QWP leader said that politics meant serving the people but the PTI rulers were paying lip service to the people’s problems.
He urged the Afghan government to ensure the soil of Afghanistan is not used for terrorism against Pakistan.
“Under the Doha Agreement, the Afghan Taliban had promised that they would make sure that the Afghan soil was not used against its neighbours for terrorism,” he said.
QWP central general secretary Ahmad Nawaz Khan Jadoon, central vice-chairman Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Khan, provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, provincial vice-chairperson Dr Faiza Rasheed and office-bearers of the party’s Abbottabad chapter were also present on the occasion.
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026