PESHAWAR: A Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker launched a sharp critique of his own party’s provincial government and leadership during a session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, questioning its governance and strategy for securing the release of the party’s founder.
Speaking on the assembly floor, PTI MPA Shah Tarab Khan said the party had secured a two-thirds majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because of the popularity of the PTI founder, who has remained in jail for the past three years, while the current party leadership continued to enjoy official privileges.
He claimed the provincial bureaucracy no longer took the government seriously, arguing that unless the government demonstrated greater seriousness in its affairs, the bureaucracy would continue to disregard it.
He also criticised the condition of the province’s healthcare system, alleging that hospitals lacked both doctors and essential medicines, and claimed that merit had been undermined in the province.
Shah Tarab Khan further alleged that many within the current party leadership were not genuinely interested in securing the PTI founder’s release, claiming some feared losing their influence and benefits if he returned.
He said the founder had elevated many leaders to positions of power and added that if the party had not retreated from its struggle, the founder’s sisters would not have been compelled to take the lead in public campaigns.
The PTI lawmaker also pointed out that no major protest had been held in the past three months and suggested that the party should pursue negotiations.
If dialogue was not possible, he said, those responsible for the current strategy should step aside and allow others to take charge.
He proposed the formation of a jirga or a formal negotiating panel to engage with the establishment on the issue of the PTI founder’s release, arguing that if jirgas could be constituted for other matters, the same approach should be adopted in this case.
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