KP CM vows to avoid confrontation despite ‘repeated provocation’

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf believes in constitutional and legal politics and will not pursue a confrontational path, despite what he called repeated provocations by political opponents and certain officials.

Addressing a large PTI public gathering at Peshawar’s Hayatabad Sports Complex, Afridi noted that “we don’t need to fight crows, we need to fly higher,” and urged party workers to focus on long-term political struggle rather than clashes.

A large number of party workers participated in the rally where PTI also announced another public meeting in Kohat next Sunday. Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and other leaders also addressed the gathering.

Read more: MQM-P urges PTI to decide between party chief and country

The chief minister said he owed his political stature to Imran Khan and claimed that the PTI had achieved a “clean record” in KP from 2013 to 2024.

He announced development plans for Peshawar, saying Rs 100 billion would be allocated to the city, including the construction of a 100-bed hospital and several underpasses.

Responding to criticism of governance, Afridi said PTI would not have formed the provincial government for the third time if governance had failed.

He criticized repeated security operations and drone strikes, questioned their effectiveness and called for a review of the policy.

Citing an IMF report, he said the provincial government would not allow corruption worth Rs 5.3 trillion.

He further stated that the KP was not a “laboratory for experiments” and that policies would be formulated through consultation with elders, political parties and parliamentarians.

Afridi said allegations were leveled against him when his name was suggested as the chief minister, but the PTI would continue its struggle within constitutional limits.

“We respect state institutions and have made enormous sacrifices for this country,” he said, adding that more than 80,000 lives had been lost for Pakistan’s security and prosperity. He also warned against equating a “fake centre” with a genuine state institution.

Achakzai warns against Governor’s rule

Leader of Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, said the country had entered the final stages of what he described as a battle between right and wrong. He maintained that those who violate the constitution pose a security risk under Pakistan’s constitutional framework.

Achakzai said nations that had abandoned war had made progress and stressed the need to end what he called a “war mentality”.

He called the Afghans Pakistan’s brothers and said the two peoples were “links in the same chain”. He also criticized the imprisonment of people who, he said, were simply demanding constitutional and legal rights.

He demanded the convening of a national conference of judges, military generals, religious scholars and politicians to settle differences and “save the country.” Achakzai warned that if governor’s rule was imposed in KP, “every chowk in the province will turn into D-Chowk.”

Asad Qaiser rejects ‘politics of intimidation’

Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said the demonstration had once again proved that Peshawar and KP remained Imran Khan’s strongholds. He warned that attempts to intimidate or pressure Imran Khan or his allies would fail.

Qaiser alleged that the public’s right to vote had effectively been stripped and criticized what he described as the installation of a government with only 17 seats.

He argued that powerful circles wanted to decide who would rule rather than let the mandate of the electorate prevail.

He further said that the ruling leadership had suffered defeat in the elections but still made laws for the country and added that the Pakistani nation would not accept constitutional violations.

Pakistan is facing critical times, says Allama Nasir Abbas

Addressing the rally, Allama Nasir Abbas said that Pakistan has gone through a period more sensitive than 1971. He alleged that there was electoral fraud and said that “thieves and robbers” were handed power by stealing the mandate.

He said that Imran Khan was jailed in an attempt to erase him from public memory, but claimed that the people had not forgotten him.

Commenting on the recent press conferences, Abbas said they reflected internal disarray among opponents and emphasized the need for Pakistan to be a free, sovereign state.

PTI leader Junaid Akbar said attempts to intimidate the public had failed, pointing to the turnout at the rally as proof. He claimed that PTI’s mandate and election symbol had been removed, but said party workers still raised slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad”, and reiterated their support for state institutions and the armed forces.