PESHAWAR: The three-party alliance comprising Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) accepted the talks offer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, but vowed to continue protest as well. “We are democratic people and our doors are always open for talks, but we will go with our plan and protest against the rigging and mismanagement in the local government polls in the province and hold a public gathering on Tuesday (June 16) at Soaekarno Square,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the president of the alliance while speaking at a news conference here at Bacha Khan Markaz. Mian Iftikhar, who is also central general secretary of ANP, termed the establishment of a probe committee under the chairmanship of chief secretary mere an eyewash. The provincial government on Friday formed a high-level probe committee to look into the causes of administrative failure in the May 30 local government election. “Earlier, the government in its so-called APC talked about judicial commission that will probe the rigging and mismanagement in the local government elections. We do not expect any fair investigation from the committee,” he stated. He said all and sundry admitted that it was the most rigged election; even the 350 returning officers also accepted that the elections were rigged. “If all agree that election was rigged then we have to fix responsibility,” he stressed. Main Iftikhar said the three-party alliance believed that it was the responsibility of the provincial government and being chief executive of the province Pervez Khattak should resign. He said the role of the Election Commission was curtailed to a great extent. He said, “First, the de-limitation of constituencies was carried out by the provincial government, then they decided to hold elections under the executive and lastly the government declined to hold election in phases.” Mian Iftikhar said a number of people killed on the election day and the provincial government was solely responsible for maintaining law and order. He alleged that PTI-led provincial government through its administration rigged the election and it continued to change the results in different districts of the province. The public gathering of the alliance would be addressed by ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rahman and senior leadership of PPP.
