Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. SCREENSHOT
RAWALPINDI/PESHAWAR:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan on Tuesday approved the formation of a slimmed-down and streamlined Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet, allowing Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to select his team independently.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Imran Khan in Adiala jail, the PTI founder’s sisters said he had “advised the chief minister to form a cabinet of his own choice, but keep it small”.
They added that Imran had asked party leaders to move the high courts and the Supreme Court against the restrictions on meeting him. “These instructions will be conveyed to Salman Akram Raja,” they said.
Uzma Khan said she informed Imran about the KP rally, which made him “very happy”.
“We told him everyone was asking for a long walk and he laughed,” she said. Uzma added that Imran had not nominated anyone for the cabinet, leaving full discretion to the chief minister. “He clearly said he was not proposing any names as the choice was up to the CM.”
She further said that Imran had sent a message to Salman Akram Raja, stating that future party communications would go through him.
Furthermore, Imran expressed concerns over the delay in issuing notifications of appointment of Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas as Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly and Senate, respectively.
She said the PTI founder had asked the party’s lawyers to “immediately file contempt petitions and not leave the High Court without fixing a hearing date.”
Meanwhile, sources said the PTI Parliamentary Committee, headed by Chief Minister Sohaib Afridi at the CM House in Peshawar, had agreed to form an eight-ten member cabinet after the upcoming Senate elections.
Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and several MPs attended the meeting, which finalized the party’s strategy for the October 30 Senate elections.
According to sources close to the matter, Afridi had tried three times to meet Imran, but permission was refused. “Now that the green signal has been given, the cabinet will be formed after the senatorial elections,” said a party source. The delay was aimed at avoiding discontent among members during the vote, they added.
Later, CM Sohail Afridi announced that he would file a contempt petition over the denial of his meeting with Imran Khan despite court orders. Speaking to reporters, Afridi said the decision was taken following violation of orders of three judges.
“Our leader’s cases are not being heard by the Supreme Court. We urge the judiciary to uphold the rule of law. Our lawyers are with you.”
He said there was “no justice in Pakistan” and verdicts were handed down “at someone’s behest.”
“The day justice is done, Imran Khan will be free,” Afridi hopes, adding that the judges themselves have acknowledged their interference in their decisions. “If judges are being held hostage, let the people know so that we can free them,” he added.
Afridi said refusing his meeting with the incarcerated party leader did not mean he was out of touch. “The fact that I haven’t met the founder doesn’t mean I don’t receive his messages,” he said.
When a journalist asked why the cabinet had not yet been formed if communication existed, Afridi replied: “The real question is: why am I being prevented from meeting him when I have the mandate of the people?”
