KP govt not cooperating with Centre in war against terrorism: Tariq Fazal

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Monday accused the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of not cooperating with the Centre in the ongoing war against terrorism.

Speaking to Geo News at the Parliament House in Islamabad, the federal minister said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government’s disengagement from the war against terrorism was causing serious losses to the national effort against the menace.

He said the provincial government was also not standing with state institutions, while Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was not cooperating in efforts to prevent terrorism.

Chaudhry said three provinces were following Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan, but not KP.

His remarks came days after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had urged Imran Khan-founded PTI to clarify whether it stands with Pakistan or Afghanistan amid deadly terror attacks across the province.

Addressing a press conference last week, Tarar said that the PTI-led KP government refuses to take ownership of the counterterrorism operations or take effective steps against terrorism.

"I have been saying for years that they [PTI] is a B-team of the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan]. I am justified in saying that because they facilitated the terrorists in the last 12 years," he had added.

The parliamentary affairs minister said today that the federal government was considering imposing an emergency in KP amid the prevailing situation in the province.

It is pertinent to mention here that the government-opposition fresh talks aimed at averting the PTI’s planned October 4 long march towards Islamabad ended in deadlock on the night between Saturday and Sunday, with the two sides failing to reach consensus on key issues.

Both sides accuse each other of sabotaging the dialogues. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday had accused the KP CM of attempting to sabotage negotiations between the PTI and the federal government.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja had claimed that the primary reason for the failure of the talks was the federal government's insistence that all anti-terrorism actions it unilaterally initiated in KP must be owned by the provincial government.

Meanwhile, PTI embarked on its October 4 long march towards Islamabad.

Talking to Geo News today, the federal minister said the opposition’s priority was politics and the PTI founder, adding that the latter was his political opponent but he had no personal enmity with him.

The minister said meetings with the PTI founder had taken place in the past too, while the door for dialogue between political parties always remained open.

However, the minister said he did not think negotiations could resume in the near future.

The federal minister said the government-opposition talks failed for two major reasons, with the first being that the opposition delegation did not have authority.

“All the authority was with the KP government,” he said.

The minister said those negotiating had told the government that fulfilling the demands was beyond their authority.

He said the second reason for the failure of the talks was a difference in priorities.

The minister also warned the march would not be allowed to enter Islamabad under any circumstances.