Pakhtuns representatives kept out of Parliament

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Expressing reservations about the results of the February 8 general election, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Tuesday the representatives of the Pakhtuns were kept out of the Parliament under a conspiracy for the third consecutive term.

A press release issued from Watan Kor said the polls were not held in a free, fair and transparent manner, considering its unexpected outcome. Besides expressing reservations about the entire election process and its outcome, he said that disunity harmed the people at the polls.

“Misunderstanding and lack of unity undermined the people,” he said, adding that the people of KP did not vote for a cause or ideology. “The problems facing KP will be placed on the backburner as the voters did not vote on the basis of issues,” he remarked. He feared that now KP would be dealt as a periphery and the problems it was facing would not be given due importance. “The people were deprived of their true representation by design,” he said.

Raising objections to the electoral exercise, he said the 2024 election was the continuation of the 2018’s managed election. “Keeping the true representatives of the Pakhtuns out of the Parliament would have negative consequences for their areas,” he maintained.

“The political forces were expecting that the elections would help restore the confidence of the people and bring an end to the prevailing political and economic uncertainty, but unfortunately that did not happen,” he lamented.

He said that the general election, which was riddled with irregularities, created doubts about its transparency. He said his party would try to prevent the situation from taking an ugly turn in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of the general election. “We will spare no effort to forge unity among the people and remove the clouds of uncertainty hovering over the political landscape,” he said.

He said that the outcome of the election was unexpected across the country. “It seems the elections were stage-managed,” he commented.