PML-N leader says people’s mandate stolen in 2018 polls

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leader Ikhtiar Wali Khan on Sunday said the mandate of the people was stolen in the 2018 general election.

Talking to reporters here, he said the last general election was rigged and his party did not accept its results.

Ikhtiar Wali, who is also PML-N provincial spokesperson, said the democratic forces, including the PML-N, had rejected the 2018 election.

“We consider this government and the prime minister selected as Imran Khan took frequent U-turns and failed to deliver on his pledges,” he said, adding that government was being run by the selectors. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader said the people from all over the country were fed up with this government as two years had passed and the economy was on the verge of collapse.

The Pakistani rupee has weakened against the US dollar and the price of gold registered a sharp increase over the last two years, Ikhtiar Wali maintained.

He added that the government raised the petroleum levy instead of passing on the benefit of the low prices of the POL products in the international market to the people.

The country, the PML-N leader, said lurched from one crisis to another, but the rulers were least bothered to mend their ways and pay attention to revive the economy. “The flour crisis is looming as the prices of the commodity has registered a sharp increase,” he feared.

He maintained that the government had buckled under the pressure of sugar, flour and oil mafias.

There was a marked difference between the words and deeds of the prime minister, he noted, asking the prime minister to step down so that a fresh election could be held and the people could elect their true leadership.

ANP demands removal of KP director archaeology: Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded removal of the director of KP Archaeology Department for his alleged involvement in millions of rupees corruption. ANP provincial spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour on Sunday demanded removal of Abdul Samad, saying that the Heritage Trail inquiry report had found him guilty of millions of rupees’ corruption. She said the project was unnecessary and was launched for corruption purpose.

She said that corruption in Archaeology Complex, Gor Kathri, Walled City and heritage projects were the talk of the town.

The Awami National Party leader said that embezzling public money had proved that the PTI was not serious in fighting corruption but used these slogans to reach the power corridors. She said that despite being found guilty, the official had not been removed from his post.