Continuous Increase in Petrol Prices Shows Federal Government Has No Policy: Sohail Afridi

Peshawar – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi has said that a DG of an institution holds press conferences showing videos against the Chief Executive of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while on the other hand a judge of the judiciary passes comments. “Do they want to divide Pakistan? Where do they want to take Pakistan?”

Addressing a provincial cabinet meeting, he said that the federal government’s continuous increase in petrol prices is extremely regrettable, and the burden of this increase is falling on the poor. He said that those who imposed themselves by robbing the public mandate are only interested in filling their own pockets, and public relief is not among their priorities. The way petrol prices are rising shows that the federal government has no policy. On one hand, petrol prices are being increased, and on the other, the country is being run on loans. In 74 years, Rs 43,000 billion in loans were taken, while the current fake government pushed the debt to Rs 97,000 billion in five years. More debt has been piled on Pakistan by the current government in five years than was taken in 74 years, and this burden will have to be borne by the poor.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said that the poor, middle class, and salaried class are suffering, and even earning two meals a day has become difficult. He said those engaging in misadventures in Pakistan should consider where they are taking the country and its people. He strongly condemned the recent statement of Punjab’s fake Chief Minister, saying that harming national interests for personal gain is their habit. The Punjab Chief Minister’s statement is against not just one province but the narrative of the state of Pakistan. He said such statements are why an anti-Pakistan Indian narrative gains acceptance in the world. He also strongly condemned statements by federal ministers against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying there is concern among the people and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about what is going to be done to them. “Do they consider Khyber Pakhtunkhwa part of Pakistan?” he asked. He repeated that a DG of an institution holds press conferences showing videos against the Chief Executive of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while on the other hand a judge passes comments.

“Do they want to divide Pakistan, or where do they want to take Pakistan?” Sohail Afridi said that Pakistan belongs to all of us, and a biased attitude against smaller provinces will increase hatred, which is not good for Pakistan and its institutions. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is moving forward in the best direction in the public interest. In the last fiscal year, more than Rs 150 billion was collected against a revenue target of Rs 130 billion, and the current fiscal year’s target is Rs 180 billion. Without imposing new taxes, more than Rs 200 billion in revenue will be collected. “This is what real public service and public interest look like,” he said.

He said irrelevant people are continuously interfering in government and departmental affairs and intimidating officers. As Special Assistant, some contracts were canceled over poor performance and non-completion of work in NLC’s C&W projects. He said full scrutiny was carried out for Asian Development Bank projects, and only companies with merit and complete documentation qualified, while companies coming on the basis of incomplete documents, fake bank guarantees, and recommendations were disqualified. He said this is the government of Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and there is no room for wrongdoing or going against merit. There is no objection if a company meeting merit and transparency standards gets a contract, but attempts to obtain contracts through wrong means will not succeed.

The Chief Minister said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s officers are doing excellent work for merit, transparency, good governance, and service delivery. “I stand like a rock with my cabinet and officers, and I will stand to the last limit against those who intimidate or threaten officers,” he said.