K-P CM, Governor stay away from receiving PM Shehbaz

PESHAWAR:

Going against the protocol of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and acting Governor Muashtaq Ghani didn’t receive him during his recent visit to North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber-Pakhutnkhwa (K-P).

The absence of K-P chief minister and acting governor on this occasion is seen as open violation of PM’s protocol and the start of a confrontation between the federal and provincial governments.

This has brought back the not-so-pleasant memories of the early 1990s.

In the 1990s when Nawaz Sharif was the chief minister Punjab he used to avoid Prime Minister Benezir Bhutto during her visit to the province.

Talking to The Express Tribune a government official said that by following the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) policy of open confrontation with the centre, the provincial government would be in difficult position.

“You have to meet the prime minister and his team as well as federal finance minister before finalizing the provincial budget,” he said, adding that extensive consultations as well as discussions are required for this.

“If you are openly hostile towards the federal government then this would have serious implications because the federal government provides most of the financing for the provincial budgets,” he said.

“Shehbaz Sharif announced medical college and a university for North Waziristan along with other projects. If Taimur Saleem Jhargra and Mahmood Khan continue this policy of not even meeting the prime minister and his team it is almost impossible to prepare the K-P budget which is just a month away,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2022.