23pc property tax: Khwaja Hoti threatens to launch protest drive in KP

MARDAN: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former federal minister Nawabzada Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hoti on Tuesday threatened to launch a protest movement if the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government didn’t reduce the property tax within two months.

“The property tax in Punjab and other provinces is three percent. However, the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have to pay 23 percent as property tax which is an injustice to the people of this province.

The PPP leader said that the Peshawar High Court had already passed an order asking the government to give relief to people in property tax. “I will continue to raise issues confronting the people. And I will lead a protest movement if the government does not reduce the property tax within two months,” he added.

Khwaja Hoti said that the people were already suffering due to inflation and a huge increase in electricity and gas tariffs. “The rulers must end corruption Instead of putting more pressure on the public,” he said, adding that the country would face lawlessness if the galloping inflation was not checked.

He also condemned the rigging in the recent general elections. “The game of bringing selected people to power has been going on for the last many years. And this game has to be stopped now in the best interest of the country,” he went on to add.

The former minister feared that both the federal government and provincial governments might not be able to complete their terms.“The upcoming setups in the Centre as well as in the provinces will not be able to last more than one year,” he added.

Khwaja Hoti said the country had been facing a worst economic crisis and the economic stability was a sine qua non for its survival.“Selected people have been imposed on the people instead of forming a national government for four years to pull the country out of crises,” he added.