PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shaukat Yousafzai has accused the federal government of sabotaging relations with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by making false allegations against Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and obstructing his meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan.
Speaking on a private television channel, Yousafzai said the Shehbaz Sharif-led administration should “take positive steps” if it truly wanted to improve relations with the PTI-led provincial government.
He criticized the federal government for what he termed “unjustified and poisonous rhetoric” labelling the KP chief minister as a “terrorist, facilitator, and extortion mafia,” claiming such statements had deepened mistrust between the federation and the province.
“The PML-N does not even know what it wants from this entire episode,” Yousafzai remarked, alleging that the campaign against Afridi began the moment he assumed office. “They hurled so many accusations that it became impossible for him to engage constructively with the federation.”
He maintained that the PTI leadership wanted Afridi to meet Imran Khan to discuss administrative matters, including cabinet formation, but said the federal government had “deliberately blocked” the meeting despite a court order.
Yousafzai added that key decisions in the province were being handled at the secretary level due to the absence of a formal cabinet, which he said was “unsustainable” and “damaging for governance.”
“The federal government claims to care for 45 million people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said, “yet it refuses to arrange a simple meeting between the chief minister and our party founder.”
He further alleged that the federal administration was using the issue as political leverage, recalling that government ministers frequently invoked the events of May 9 and November 26 “as their only talking point.”
“First they accuse him of terrorism, and then they ask him to sit together to eliminate terrorism,” Yousafzai said. “No apology was ever offered for these baseless allegations.”
He cautioned that continued provocation could lead to public unrest, urging the federal government to adopt a more conciliatory approach. “Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is new in office; relations with him should be improved, not poisoned,” Yousafzai added.
The federal government has yet to issue a response. PML-N officials, however, have previously defended their position on KP’s security situation, insisting that national unity is vital in countering militancy.
