Rifts emerge in PTI’s KP assembly ranks ahead of budget

PESHAWAR: Differences have surfaced within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentary party in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly ahead of the provincial budget, creating a fresh challenge for Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

The chief minister has called a meeting of the parliamentary party for Sunday evening after receiving information that lawmakers had begun contacting each other amid rising dissatisfaction. All PTI members of the assembly have been directed to attend the session.

The unease among party lawmakers was reported after the recent expansion of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet. The chief minister and other ministers have been reaching out to disgruntled members and personally asking them to attend the meeting.

Before the official gathering, unhappy PTI lawmakers have reportedly planned their own consultative meeting. The emergence of a dissatisfied group just before the budget has increased pressure on the chief minister, with concerns that an independent stance by PTI members in the assembly could create difficulties for the government. A message has also been conveyed to the unhappy lawmakers that any move to trouble the government could affect their chances of getting party tickets in the next elections.