We want polls in peaceful environment: KP Governor

F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali on Thursday reiterated that he wanted to hold elections in the province in 70 to 90-day but emphasised on conducive and peaceful environment for the polls.
Addressing a joint press conference here at the Governor House along with caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, he said, “we are ready to hold elections in 70 to 90 days, but an all-party conference should be convened immediately to decide election day in consultation with the relevant institutions.”
The governor said that he had written a letter to the Election Commission and its interpretation was totally different. “I want to hold a peaceful election, when the assembly was dissolved, the situation was not like this. It would be appropriate to announce the date of the election after consultation with all stakeholders.”
He said that during a meeting with the tribal elders he came to know the situation in the tribal districts was not up to the mark but a single party was not understanding the gravity of the situation. The Governor deplored that despite the Peshawar Police Line blast the PTI leadership was insisting on an election date, adding that nobody from PTI attended the funerals of the martyrs.
He said that Imran Khan was blaming him for delaying the elections and clarified that he asked the Election Commission to hold elections and suggested that consultations should be done, as the police could possibly refuse to do election duty in prevailing circumstances.
Ghulam Ali said that from 2018 to 2022, there were 465 terrorist attacks, the districts in which these attacks took place included Peshawar, Mardan, DI Khan and Bannu but Maulana Fazlur Rahman didn’t do politics on the issue like Imran Khan. He criticised Imran Khan over his politics and said that when he and his party members resigned from the assembly then how could they now protest against approval of the resignation.
The Governor said that the election would be held and he would not postpone it by any mean due to any fear, adding that six mayors of his party won election at the time when PTI was in power. He expressed fear that police would not perform duty in such circumstances especially in tribal districts and it was imperative to hold APC to finalise election date.
He said the people of merged districts wanted seat allocation on the basis of census and the representatives of local government were demanding funds and offices. He held Imran Khan and former KP CM Mahmood Khan for the issues and problems of the merged districts.
The Governor questioned where did the PTI government spend 471 billion rupees that was given by the federal government for security and peace in the merged districts; why were the police stations established in rented buildings? He said that during the PTI government the budget of a district was equal to the budget of the entire province.