‘Very little, if anything, done for KP’: PM Shehbaz rails against PTI’s governance in province

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has harshly criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government's governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), questioning the transparency of the funds allocated to the now non-functional provincial administration for the welfare and development of its residents. The criticism was delivered during a meeting of the PML-N's parliamentary party in Islamabad.

The federal government imposed governor's rule and emergency in KP on October 11, citing the provincial government's "deliberate disengagement" from the fight against terrorism. This decision was met with opposition and criticism from the PTI, including Fazl, who had previously worked towards easing tensions between the federal and KP governments.

Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the PTI's 13-year tenure in power in KP, during which time they made numerous promises, such as building dams, generating solar power, and establishing hospitals, universities, and schools. He questioned how many of these promises had been fulfilled and whether corruption had occurred in the process. The prime minister also inquired about public funds' utilization for the welfare and betterment of the people across KP, from Peshawar to Kohistan and Hazara, and the southern region.

He asserted that the majority of people would agree that the PTI government had done very little, if anything, to address their basic needs.

Shehbaz Sharif argued that by 2017-18, terrorist activities in KP had been significantly mitigated. He acknowledged the sacrifices made by the province in the fight against terrorism, which had cost around 80,000 lives and resulted in an estimated loss of Rs15,000 billion to Pakistan's economy. The prime minister also praised former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his anti-terrorism policies following the 2014 Army Public School tragedy, in which over 140 students and teachers were killed.

The prime minister mentioned the PTI's recent focus on long marches and protests during the past two and a half years, recalling the 2014 D-Chowk protest when the party refused to call off its sit-in to allow Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Pakistan. He criticized the PTI for allowing "brutal terrorists" from Afghanistan to settle in Swat, which contributed to the resurgence of terrorism.

The prime minister noted that thousands of civilians and security personnel were martyred during this period, and the PTI was offered a chance to collaborate with the federal government to combat terrorism, similar to previous instances.