Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi approached the Supreme Court, seeking a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) jailed founder Imran Khan.
In a letter written to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi, the chief minister maintained that he is “under constitutional and moral obligation” to consult with the PTI founder, who is also the party’s patron-in-chief, at Adiala jail for seeking instructions on the provincial cabinet formation.
CM Afridi, who was recently elected to the top office, maintained that he had already approached the federal interior secretary, as well as the Punjab home secretary, for arranging a meeting with Imran, adding that despite repeated communications and follow-ups, the request was not fulfilled.
Afridi — who replaced Ali Amin Gandapur as the chief minister this week — added that he needs to meet Imran to discuss matters relating to law and order, critical economic challenges, and policy matters regarding the people of the province.
“There is a pressing need to seek direction from the Founder Chairman/ Patron in Chief Mr Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, regarding the above matters and others, including relations regarding certain important matters with the Federation and other provinces,” the letter read.
“The seeking of direction is extremely essential, even presently the province of Punjab has stopped the inter-provincial trade of wheat,” CM Afridi said.
Afridi — a young PTI leader — hails from Bara tehsil of Khyber district and held the portfolio of provincial minister for higher education before becoming the CM.
He is regarded among the party’s most ideological and grassroots-based workers, having been associated with the Imran Khan-founded party since his student years.
In his maiden speech in the KP Assembly, CM Afridi called himself “a champion of confrontational politics”, hinting at the continuation of his predecessor’s efforts to release the PTI founder Khan with new energy.
The young politician further warned that if the PTI founder was moved from Adiala jail without consulting his family and the party, they would paralyse the whole country in protest.
