Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday assured newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi that the federal government was ready to work with his administration in the national interest.
After a week-long constitutional and political crisis in the province over the election of the prime minister, Afridi was sworn in as KP CM yesterday evening, with hundreds of PTI supporters present during the ceremony at the Governor House in Peshawar.
In the run-up to the election there was criticism from government ministers against Afridi, but a statement on state broadcaster X PTV News He said today that the Prime Minister spoke to the new Prime Minister and congratulated him.
“The federation is ready to work with you in the interest of Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz told CM Afridi, the statement quoted him as saying.
On the other hand, the Peshawar High Court granted protective bail to Afridi until November 18.
A two-member bench comprising PHC’s Puisne Chief Judge Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar accepted Afridi’s bail application today, with the Prime Minister appearing before the court in person.
During the hearing, Justice Ijaz asked if any first information report (FIR) had been registered against the KP chief minister.
“We don’t know how many FIRs there are. It is possible that there is an FIR against me too,” KP Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel told the court.
The court subsequently approved CM Afridi’s bail plea, barring his arrest in any case until November 18.
According to the court order, available with sunrise.comThe court ordered that details of criminal cases, if any, registered against Afridi be given in the next hearing on November 18.
Speaking to the media outside the PHC, Afridi said the feds and “those individuals who prevent the meeting [with Imran] You have to realize that the prime minister of a province is coming.”
Responding to a journalist’s question, Afridi said he had not seen Imran since he was imprisoned. He also refuted as “false” a list of names for his new cabinet that has been circulating on social media.
When asked if the provincial cabinet would be formalized after his meeting with the PTI founder, CM Afridi replied in the affirmative. “No action will be taken without the approval of our [party] president sahib”, he stated.
‘Peaceful protest is always an option’
Yesterday, the KP’s Home and Tribal Affairs Department had requested its Punjab counterpart’s secretary and Home Ministry secretary to make “necessary arrangements” to facilitate Afridi’s meeting with Imran today, according to a letter shared by Niazi.
Shortly after today’s hearing, PTI lawyer Naeem Panjhuta said on social media platform
CM’s focal person on digital media, Yar Muhammad Khan Niazi, also shared a video on X, saying that the prime minister was on his way to Adiala jail.
Later that afternoon, the PTI claimed that the authorities were “not allowing” CM Afridi to meet Imran, calling it a “true anti-Pakistan act”.
“They are isolating the leaders trusted by millions of Pakistanis. They fear that people will join Imran Khan,” the party said on its official X account.
Speaking at a check post near Adiala Jail, the Prime Minister assured the people gathered there that he would not disappoint them.
Later, he also spoke to the media outside Adiala jail and said that he had come there to meet Imran.
“Yesterday, the KP government had informed the federal and Punjab governments that the [KP] The PM was to meet Imran today but they did not respond,” he said, adding that he also spoke to PM Shehbaz.
“I thanked Shehbaz Sharif sahibHe called me and congratulated me. I told him that […] our people should not [get affected] because of our personal and political differences. I asked him to let me meet Imran, to which he said he would ask [about the matter] and come back to me. But so far there has been no response from them,” Afridi said.
The KP CM said that they were trying to adopt all constitutional and legal means for his meeting with Imran. “Before we also tried all means and we will try again,” he stated. But, he continued, in that case the PTI was criticized for practicing protest politics.
“But if the courts do not give justice, if we adopt all constitutional means and still we are not given justice, then peaceful protest is the only solution. We have always protested peacefully and we always have that option,” Afridi added.
