PM to decide on PTI demand to meet Imran before KP budget support, says Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that a decision on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s demand for a meeting with jailed party founder Imran Khan before contributing funds to the federal government would rest with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Aurangzeb said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had no objection in principle to reducing development expenditure in order to release funds for the Centre. He said he had held what he described as a very good meeting with KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and the province’s Adviser on Finance Muzammil Aslam.

The finance minister said all provinces, including KP, had extended substantial support to the federal government during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He added that the current IMF arrangement was not solely the federal government’s programme.

Referring to PTI’s position, Aurangzeb said the matter of allowing a meeting with Imran before any contribution decision was one for the prime minister to decide.

“As you know, the IMF programme is not just the federal government's programme this time. Only the prime minister can decide on this demand”, he added.

His remarks came hours after PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja said on Adiala Road that the KP government would approve only a three-month budget paper if a meeting with the party founder did not take place before June 30. Raja told media representatives that the final budget would not be presented until consultations with the former prime minister had taken place.

Raja also said he had spoken with Chief Minister Afridi on the issue and added that Article 125 of the Constitution allowed the presentation of a budget for a three-month period.

“For the time being, this is what will happen and a three-month budget paper will be approved”, he added.

Imran Khan has been in jail since August 2023 following convictions that he and PTI describe as politically motivated. Since his removal from office through a no-confidence vote in 2022, he has faced multiple cases, including matters relating to state gifts and an unlawful marriage. Some of those convictions have since been suspended or set aside, while appeals remain pending. He denies wrongdoing.