PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, has denounced the idea of controlling provincial affairs from jail and said that the new CM must get real authority from the party leadership to be effective.
In a new statement, Governor Kundi called it essential that the provincial government, opposition, and Centre work hand in hand.
Kundi also expressed that, under Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, the opposition would greatly benefit by receiving more cooperation. “I hope that in the future, CM Sohail Afridi will join hands with the opposition and stay clear of the provincial policies of the ex-Chief Minister which have badly affected the province”, he said.
The following passage in the speech of the governor was a very in-depth discussion on a variety of extremely serious issues undermining the province like the merged districts issue, and the province’s rights in the federation.
“We have issues with the merged districts, and we are also worried about the federal government not giving us our due rights in the federation. We should come together to resolve these matters, ” Kundi added.
Moreover, Kundi, disappointed over the delay of the provincial cabinet formation, made a recommendation which included the formation of a short cabinet with the addition of changing the members of the cabinet through the consultation process in the future. “The time taken for cabinet formation is not suitable. I suggested that a small cabinet be constituted without delay,” he said.
Regarding governance, Kundi warned that one should not rely on the party founder’s permission to solve a provincial problem and hinted at the party leadership influence on the decision-making process.
Besides, he emphasized old problems of the province as far as the federal policies are concerned, especially the lack of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and water disputes. “Since 1991, our province has been the least beneficiary of water, while being the cheapest producer of electricity, in the country, we are still facing load-shedding. We have to fight for our rights,” said Kundi.
Kundi also talked back to the ex-Chief Minister’s first speech and said that it missed governance concerns. “The Chief Minister’s speech seemed more about party workers than governance issues. The province cannot afford the luxury of confrontation and wastage of resources,” said Kundi.
Besides that, Kundi voiced out worries about insurgency within the province and most of all, the presence of Afghan nationals in it. He introduced terrorists’ recently attacked on the Dera Ismail Khan police training center, where except for one facilitator all the terrorists were from Afghanistan. “We are having a tough time where Afghanistan is concerned regarding terrorism and our forces making precious sacrifices which deserve our salute,” Kundi said.
Talking about troubles between the two provinces, Kundi also said dealing with Punjab when it comes to wheat was quite difficult. “Punjab, by blocking trucks, is the main reason for the rise in flour prices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when we are talking about wheat. Provincial governments are the ones who should be solving these problems by working together,” he explained.
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At Kundi’s end, he was addressing rumors of such a drastic move as Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and, in fact, was denying them. “Imposition of Governor’s Rule in the province is not on the cards, and there are not enough issues with the present government that would justify such a step,” he round off.
