Pervez Khattak says PTI will help Samiul Haq win Senate seat

• KP chief minister says party to counter MMA 

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Saturday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will not only win its own six seats in the Senate, but it will also manage to get its ally, Jamait Ulema-e-Islam-S (JUI-S) chief Samiul Haq, in winning the seat.

In a talk with the journalists from Islamabad, CM Khattak admitted for the first time that his party, the PTI would support Samiul Haq in the Senate polls.

The chief minister said that the PTI has a substantial number of MPs for electing six nominated candidates in the forthcoming election; additionally, the PTI will also get Sami elected as a senator despite the fact that the Pakistan People Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are involved in horse-trading.

Earlier, the PTI had backtracked from its earlier plan to give the JUI-S chief the senate ticket after pressure from all segments of society.

The CM said that PTI will not make an alliance in the next general election. “We do not feel any threat from anyone in next election besides the MMA, that’s why we are supporting Samiul Haq in the Senate polls to weaken the MMA—an alliance religious parties.

He stated that when PTI came to power in 2013, law and order situation was worsening, adding that the province was witnessing a spate of terrorism incidents besides kidnapping. The foreign, as well as local, investors shifted to other parts of the country due to the poor law and order conditions, he said.

Furthermore, the PTI invested Rs 30 billion in the education sector, said CM Khattak, adding that the party is establishing three new universities apart from the establishment of medical colleges in the province.

The CM further said that besides giving health cards to deserving people, the PTI government is providing free of cost medical facilities in every government hospital. “We have recruited doctors on lucrative packages so they come back from abroad and work here,” he said.

The PTI for the for the first introduced laws, such as the right to information, whistleblower, conflict of interest, in the province to facilitates the masses, he said.

The CM said that the government signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with different multilateral institutions to connect five cities under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“We are establishing a metro bus service in Peshawar with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB).” The total cost of the project is Rs 45 billion and the ADB is overseeing all the matters.

Moreover, we are constructing an 82-kilometre long motorway in Swat. This will help to boost the tourism in the region”, he added.

While replying to one question, he claimed that PTI leader Jahangir Tareen—who was disqualified by the Supreme Court— did not make door to door campaign in the by-election in Lodharan, whereas the entire leadership of the PML-N sat together for this election and eventually they won the seat.