- SAPM Huzaifa Rehman says PM Shehbaz urged provincial authorities arrange meeting to help form KP cabinet
- KP CM petitions IHC, writes to CJP and PM over denial of access to PTI founder
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has asked the Punjab administration to facilitate a meeting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan to help finalise the formation of the KP cabinet, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Huzaifa Rehman said on Tuesday.
“I hope this meeting will take place in the coming days. The federal government has asked the provincial government to arrange this so the cabinet there (in KP) can be formed,” Rehman said in an interview on a private TV channel.
When pressed on whether the Centre had issued a formal direction, Rehman clarified that an “order” could not be given as provincial governments were autonomous. However, he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had “urged” Punjab authorities and the federal government had also “requested” that the meeting be facilitated “as soon as possible.”
Imran Khan, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act linked to the May 9 protests. The PTI has repeatedly complained of limited access to its incarcerated founder, saying party leaders and family members are routinely denied meetings.
Afridi, who was elected chief minister last week, was barred from meeting Imran during a visit to Adiala on Thursday. Speaking to reporters later, he said he would only announce his provincial cabinet after consulting the PTI founder.
The KP CM said he had formally notified both the Punjab and federal governments of his plan to meet Imran but received no response. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also not replied to a subsequent phone request for assistance. Afridi later approached the Islamabad High Court, seeking permission for the meeting.
Rehman said that, as per his information, the Punjab government was working to devise a mechanism and complete all “cordial formalities,” expressing confidence that the meeting would “be held soon.”
Addressing the KP Assembly on Monday, Afridi said he had written letters to the chief justice of Pakistan and both federal and provincial governments and even petitioned the IHC, but to no avail.
He vowed to challenge the federal government over the continued denial of the meeting and warned he would boycott all meetings called by it until his request was granted.
