Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor says province’s policies were once set from Kabul
Faisal Karim Kundi, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, says the province’s security and political policies were in the past decided from Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad rather than Islamabad. He has promised to end the lack of coordination between provincial institutions and Pakistan’s central government.
Speaking at a news conference in Peshawar on Monday, Oct. 20, Kundi said disputes with the central government and tensions with other Pakistani provinces should not continue. He described improving the security situation and reforming provincial administration as his priorities, and said he would work over the next three months to improve conditions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The governor claimed that misplaced support for armed groups and leniency toward their activities had led to the spread of insecurity and terrorism in the province. According to him, the provincial administration in the past lacked the ability to take firm action against armed men and terrorist groups active in the region.
In response to threats from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf over a possible siege of the governor’s house, Kundi said tea and coffee were ready for protesters; but if anyone disturbed public order, they would face a reaction, he said, that even their future generations would not forget.
In recent days, Pakistan’s central government, on the prime minister’s recommendation and with the president’s approval, declared an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and handed the provincial government’s powers to the governor.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by Imran Khan and previously in control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has faced the arrest of a number of its leaders after launching a protest march toward Islamabad. The release of Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister and the party’s leader, is one of the protesters’ main demands.
