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| India-Pakistan |
| Sharia be implemented in Malakand: PPP-S |
| 2009-02-02 |
| Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) Chairman Aftab Sherpao on Sunday demanded immediate implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand to improve law and order in the area. Sherpao said a year had passed since the army operation began in Swat but failed to solve the problem and was not effective. "The army and the civil administration have both failed to achieve success to date in the troubled areas," said the PPP-S chief while addressing a press conference. Sherpao said the lawlessness had been limited to Matta tehsil consisting of 13 union councils. "Now, it has spread to Swat district consisting of 52 union councils and other districts and the situation is getting from bad to worse," he said. The PPP-S chairman said the provincial government reached a peace agreement with the Swat Taliban in haste but could not implement it as the government had a non-serious approach and wanted to gain political mileage out of the peace accord. He said it seemed the federal and provincial governments had no strategy on how to handle the Swat problem and the people had lost confidence in them. The former chief minister and federal minister said the civil administration should return to the troubled areas and the governor, the chief minister, ministers and public representatives should visit Swat and other affected areas to restore the people's confidence. Sherpao said at a meeting held before the press conference, his party decided to form a committee to contact all political parties to hold a joint conference to find a solution to the Swat issue. The PPP-S chairman proposed formation of an independent body to assess 'collateral damage' in Swat, adding that the affected families should be compensated through a special fund. Loan: The PPP-S chairman demanded the federal government waive the NWFP loans as it did in Balochistan's case. He called on the federal government to focus on the NWFP security problem on priority and not limit it to the closed-door meetings. He said statements by the president and the prime minister on the continuing drones strikes in the Tribal Areas showed the government was incompetent and its foreign policy flawed. He said if the government had any agreement on US drone strikes it should be made public, adding that summoning the US ambassador to protest the attacks would not solve the problem. He said his party would not demand mid-term elections, but added if the government felt it had failed in solving the crisis it should itself announce the polls. PPP-S Central Secretary General Senator Aneesa Zeb and other central working committee members from NWFP were also present. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 So we're not the only one with a fifth column in our government. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-02-02 10:47 |