PESHAWAR: Awami National Party’s provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has no tangible performance to show to the public, alleging that its entire focus is limited to efforts aimed at securing the release of party founder Imran Khan from jail.
Addressing a party’s organisational meeting and a joining ceremony at Pir Sabaq in Nowshera on Friday, he questioned whether the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had cast their votes merely for the release of one individual from jail, and whether such a priority could address the province’s grave challenges.
He remarked that Bacha Khan had spent 38 years and Khan Abdul Wali Khan 15 years in prison, enduring hardships not for personal reasons but for democracy, rights and the freedom of the nation, whereas ‘today even a year in prison is being projected as a historic sacrifice’.
Mr Hussain said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had seen no major development scheme initiated and no mega projects launched over the past 13 years. He claimed that businesses had suffered, investors were leaving the province, trade with Afghanistan had been curtailed, electricity prices had surged and loadshedding had reached alarming levels.
He maintained that if the provincial rulers could not secure the constitutional rights of the province from the federation, they had no moral justification to govern. He criticised what he termed silence over the National Finance Commission award, saying that even when the same party was in power at both the federal and provincial levels, it failed to raise an effective voice for the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Referring to past narratives, he said those now blaming all excesses on the military had, during their own tenure, openly praised then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, adding that such statements were on record and part of history. He said that while there was peace across the Attock bridge insecurity, terrorism and targeted killing had become routine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising questions about governance and the writ of the state.
The seasoned politician argued that peace could not be established in the province because certain elements did not want stability. He said that explosions were still taking place in areas, including Waziristan, while the government and effective governance were nowhere to be seen.
He also criticised the provincial government’s reported plans to privatise public schools, calling it equivalent to jeopardising the future of children from poor families, and alleged rampant corruption under the health card scheme.
Highlighting the ANP’s past performance, he said that during the party’s rule the province had received its due share under the NFC award, while schools, colleges, hospitals and universities were established, and peace was restored.
The meeting was attended by a large number of party workers, including district and tehsil office-bearers.
The ANP provincial president also administered the oath to newly-elected office-bearers from Pir Sabaq, Zarra Mena and Tarlundai village councils.
Dozens of individuals from various political parties joined ANP on the occasion.
Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2025
