Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has said that the mandate for negotiations with the government has been given to Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas, stressing that any talks must be held on a level playing field.
Addressing a meet-the-press at the Karachi Press Club, the KP chief minister said he had come to Karachi for a street movement on the advice of his party leader. He clarified that he has no personal contact with anyone and is acting strictly under party direction.
“This is our war, not a war of caste or party -- it is a war of everyone,” he said.
Fair, meaningful negotiations
Afridi said negotiations should take place, but only if the person on the other side has real authority. He emphasized that dialogue is meaningless without a level playing field and equal footing for all stakeholders.
He reiterated that the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has formally assigned the negotiation mandate to Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas.
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The chief minister said he has been asked by the PTI founder to prepare for a street movement. He announced that convoys of the opposition coalition would arrive in Punjab the following day. Referring to a recent incident, he said windows of vehicles involved in the convoy were broken, adding that such actions would not deter the movement.
Democracy and military operations
Sohail Afridi said democracy should be strong enough that no institution can be paralysed. Sharing his stance on security operations, he said a peace jirga was held in which all political parties and schools of thought participated.
“The jirga decided that a military operation is not the solution to any problem. Military operation is open bullying,” he said.
The KP chief minister said the Sindh chief minister contacted him and assured full support. He said he thanked the Sindh chief minister and conveyed that he would place the issues of the KP community before the Sindh leadership.
He added that so far, they are satisfied with the Sindh visit.
He said Sindh still reflects the politics of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, adding that it remains to be seen whether Asif Ali Zardari truly runs the government.
He claimed that KP is the only province whose government came with a genuine public mandate, while the federal and other provincial governments did not.
PTI’s strength in KP
The chief minister said the people of KP trust PTI and its founder, noting that voters did not give a second chance to anyone else and that this is PTI’s third term in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He questioned where it is written that a chief minister of one province cannot engage in political activity in another province.
NFC share, finances, corruption allegations
Sohail Afridi said KP’s rightful share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award is not being fully given. He added that around Rs4,000 billion owed to KP remains stuck at the federal level.
He alleged corruption figures of Rs100 billion in Punjab, Rs5,300 billion, and even Rs10,000 billion at the federal level, while asserting that KP generates the cheapest electricity in Pakistan but is still being denied its legitimate rights.
Concluding his remarks, the KP chief minister praised journalists, saying they have supported truth and justice. “Journalists and we are employees and inseparable,” he said.
