PESHAWAR: The leaders of mainstream opposition parties have rejected the committe constituted by PTI government to make amendments in the Provincial Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) and termed it an attempt to weaken accountability process in the province.
They demanded setting up of parliamentary committee comprising members of treasury and opposition benches to oversee and review the present KP Ehtesab Commission Act to make it more comprehensive and effective.
They made it clear that recommendations of PTI Government’s committee would not be accepted besides opposing it in every forum if the opposition parties demands were not accepted.
Veteran politician and former Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan told APP on Monday that KP Ehtesab Commission has become bitter pill for PTI leadership who was in double mind either to swallow it or omit it evident from the repeated amendments in the KPEC.
“The PTI Government had passed KP Ehtesab Commission Act in haste without consulting the opposition parties and now was facing the brunt of this hasty decision,” he said.
Rahimdad Khan said development activities in KP was almost in standstill due to unnecessary consultancy work, red tapism, scare of accountability, politics of negativity and resultantly the officials throw files of development projects to each others in fear of being caught by the anti corruption bodies in the province.
“No honest officer or contractor can work independently in such an environment of fear and resultantly development work that is already downward would become standstill in KP,” he argued.
“The amendments of PTI committee would not be accepted by the opposition parties. We demand constitution of joint committee of the KP Assembly so that unbiased and more comprehensive anti corruption laws could be framed against the menace of corruption.
Rahimdad Khan said the new amendments would make KPEC toothless besides adversely affecting the accountability process in KP.
“I demand of Chief Minister KP to bring General Retired Hamid Khan back if he was serious in eradicating corruption from the province,” he said, adding people’s confidence in PTI’s claims of across the board accountability would only restore with the return of General Hamid as DG KPEC.
Rahimdad Khan said a consensus committee of the KP Assembly comprising members from all parties should be constituted immediately to review the KPEC Act besides making it more effective to control corruption in the province.
Sardar Aurangzaib Nalota, PMLN Parliamentary Leader of PMLN said that the PTI government has overlooked the opposition parties during preparations/framing of Ehtsab Commission Act and was now facing the brunt of its results by constituting another committee that was not accepted to the opposition.
He said that PTI Government was now again repeating the same mistake by constituting its own committee without consulting the opposition parties to make amendment in the Ehtesab Commission Act.
Nalota said PTI had failed to control corruption in KP besides fulfill its promises made during its election campaign and urged PTI leadership to take practical steps for the elimination of corruption rather than verbal claims.
