PESHAWAR: Caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Justice (r) Dost Muhammad Khan said on Monday that the government’s machinery was fully capable and ready to fulfill the constitutional obligations of holding the general election on time.
“Our main focus is to hold free, fair and transparent election within the constitutional parameters and national obligations by fulfilling the expectations of people,” he said while talking to various delegations, including the government officials, traders, and representatives of the lawyers’ forums, and tribal elders who called on him and exchanged Eidul Fitr greetings.
“We are duty bound to hold free, fair and transparent election according to the wishes of the people of KP and we take it a challenge,” he added.
“Our objectives are stronger than the challenges and are ready to conduct elections within the constitutional framework,” he said, adding that the caretaker setup had been solely formed for conducting the general elections during that prescribed period besides running the affairs of the government without taking any sides.
He further said, “We have to intact our impartiality during this short period.”
To complete the smooth transition of Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ (FATA) merger with KP, he urged the federal government to ensure and expedite the provision of all available and due needed resources and facilities to complete this process at the earliest.
The chief minister paid tribute to the services being rendered by tribal people for integrity, the sovereignty of the motherland and maintained that the tribal people were truly loyal to Pakistan and the federal government should consider it its top priority to bring them at par with other cities and provinces in terms of provision of much-needed resources.
He said that the funds released for the merger were not enough and urged the federal government to increase funding and provide the resources and facilities needed for the completion of the smooth transition of power.
The chief minister assured that 80 per cent of all the available resources would be spent on the rehabilitation of tribal people while the rest of 20 per cent would be spending on relief work. A special development package would be highly beneficial for speedy and early completion of the transition of power besides bringing FATA into the national mainstream, he added.
The chief minister further said that ensuring pollution-free environment to the younger generation, provision of clean drinking water and taking solid measures for the improvement of law and order are his other priorities for which directives to the concerned quarters have already been issued.
He said that to develop Pakistan and to make it economically strong, the establishment of industrial zones and reforms in tax-culture is necessary. He further said that the portfolio of the newly-inducted members of the KP cabinet would be issued next week.
