MANSEHRA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-Parliamentarians chairman and former chief minister Pervez Khattak on Monday said former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan acted like a pharaoh with all party leaders strictly following him in all situations.

“Enough is enough. We cannot please him [Imran] by confronting the army,” Mr Khattak told a public meeting in the Kaghan area here.

Former chief minister Mahmood Khan and former PTI lawmakers from Mansehra district also addressed the event.

Mr Khattak said regrettably, the PTI government couldn’t address the country’s economic crisis.

He said the country witnessed the worst mismanagement and governance of its history during the last Pakistan Democratic Movement-ledcoalition government.

PTI-P chief promises to declare Hazara a province after coming to power

The PTI-P leader said the PTI’s government was actually a “one-man show” by Mr Imran, who wanted to become a “king.”

He said PM Shehbaz Sharif’s government proved to be worse than the PTI chief’s as members of the former served their own interests only.

“Imran’s dictatorship paved the way for the success of the no-trust motion against him,” he said.

Mr Khattak said the PTI government failed to act on the party’s manifesto during its three years.

“After coming to power, we [PTI-P] will work for Pakistan’s prosperity and will never obtain loans from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders like the PTI and PDM,” he said. The PTI-P leader also said his party’s government would declare Hazara division a province.

On the occasion, Mr Mahmood said as the chief minister, he launched mega development schemes to improve people’s socioeconomic conditions.

“If I get another chance to work as the CM, I will leave no stone unturned to make ours a developed province,” he said.

PROTEST: People affected by the Dasu hydropower project on Monday took to the streets demanding the removal of non-local staff members of the energy initiative in Upper Kohistan district.

The rally was staged on the call of the joint action committee representing the project-hit families.

Led by the chairmen of four tehsil councils and shouting slogans, the protesters marched on various roads and staged a sit-in outside Wapda offices.

Work on the dam came to a halt the other day on the decision of a local jirga.

The speakers said all those appointed for theproject from outside Kohistan region should be immediately replaced with locals.

Maulana Waliullah Tohidee said under the Area Development Funds programme, the Wapda had earmarked Rs6 billion in 2016 for the project-hit people but that amount should be increased in accordance with the current inflation rate.

“We won’t call off this sit-in until our demands are met,” he said.

Bukht Buland said the families affected by the project awaited payments under the Kitchen Package as promised by the Wapda chairman.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023