PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party has rejected the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s budget as contradictory and accused the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of misleading masses by ignoring ground realities.

In a statement issued from the party’s secretariat – Watan Kor – on Friday, QWP provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said the budget was nothing more than a play on words and it would fail to deliver on the government’s promises, leading to a deficit.

The QWP leader pointed out that while the provincial government claimed to have presented a surplus budget, it simultaneously complained about the federal government’s failure to release billions of rupees under heads such as gas royalty, net hydel profit, and windfall levy on oil. “How can a surplus budget be presented when the province is burdened with a debt of Rs750 billion?” he questioned.

Sikandar Sherpao criticised the provincial government for its failure to secure the province’s constitutional and financial rights from the federal government. “The PTI-led government, instead of fighting for the province’s rights, has remained focused on protests and the release of a specific individual,” he said, in an apparent reference to former prime minister Imran Khan.

He mocked the government’s claim of introducing a roadmap for good governance, saying what the province truly needs was not more funds but the elimination of corruption and misuse of resources.

Commenting on the claim that the province’s financial condition had deteriorated by the time Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took office in 2024, Sikandar Sherpao said: “Was the PTI not already in power in KP prior to this? Blaming the past when the same party ruled the province for over a decade is illogical.”

He also slammed the idea of making the budget’s approval conditional upon the endorsement of the PTI founder, calling it undemocratic. “This amounts to undermining the collective voice of the elected assembly and prioritising the opinion of one individual, which has no place in democratic traditions,” he said.

He rejected the 10 per cent raise in salaries for government employees and 7pc for pensioners, arguing that these increases failed to match inflation levels.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2025