Rift surfaces in KP PTI as cabinet reshuffled

PESHAWAR

The recent reshuffling in the Khyber Pakhunkhwa cabinet has caused a major rift within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday.
PTI lawmakers from Peshawar expressed reservations for being ignored in the reshuffle and demanded more representation in the provincial cabinet.
They included Mehmood Jan, Arbab Jehandad Khan and Yaseen Khan Khalil, said sources.
Several PTI lawmakers from Mardan had also expressed mistrust in KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and criticised him a few days ago.
Mehmood Jan, representing PK-7 Peshawar, confirmed that differences had emerged in the party after the cabinet reshuffle. Jan told that the Peshawar lawmakers have been ignored for the second time.
On Friday, the KP government, on the advice of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, had inducted, besides elevating Shahram Khan Tarakai to the position of a senior minister and four other advisers and special assistants to the status of ministers, a minister, two advisers and four special assistants in the cabinet.
Ikramullah Gandapur, elder brother of late law minister Israrullah Gandapur, was inducted in the cabinet whereas Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Qalandar Khan Lodhi, Ziaullah Afridi and Mian Jamsheeduddin were elevated to the position of ministers. Earlier, they were holding offices of advisers and special assistants to the CM.
Jan, who resigned as parliamentary secretary earlier, said the government should provide more representation to Peshawar, especially Peshawar town-II rather than to Nowshera and Swabi, where CM Pervez Khattak, Speaker Asad Qaiser and Shahram Khan Tarakai were possessing key positions.
According to party sources, former health minister Shaukat Yousufzai was also unhappy with changing of his portfolio. He has now been assigned the Ministry for Industries.
Jamsheduddin Kakakhel, belonging to Nowshera, was elevated to minister whereas Tarakai, whose party is based in Swabi, was elevated to senior minister and assigned the portfolio of health. KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar also belonged to Swabi.
In the recent reshuffling, Ziaullah Afridi from Peshawar, who was special assistant, was elevated to the office of minister whereas Ishtiaq Urmar, from rural Peshawar, was appointed as special assistant.
They are likely to table their reservations to Imran Khan soon and would announce their future course of action if he failed in addressing their grievances, Jan said.
Days earlier, legislators from Mardan, including Ubaidullah Mayar, Iftikhar Ali Mushwani and Zahid Durrani had warned that they would make a forward block in the party if funds were not approved for projects in their respective areas.
They had said that the PTI leadership was not resolving issues being faced by their areas. Mayar had told reporters that the CM was ignoring them in terms of development projects, transfers and postings across the province. Khattak was not ready to listen to their grievances, he told.
Imran Khan had directed Khattak to look into the issue and judge performance of all ministers and MPAs. The PTI chairman had said that they would prefer to sit on opposition benches, but would not disappoint the people.
After Friday’s reshuffle, the strength of cabinet has become 14, which includes two senior ministers, five advisers and six special assistants to the CM.