K-P CM under fire for skipping key meeting

Politicians slam Afridi’s ‘personality cult’ politics

PESHAWAR:

The federal government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday blasted the newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for refusing to attend a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing him of putting political loyalty above provincial responsibility.

The session, attended by all chief ministers, including those of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, was convened to deliberate on critical national challenges, including Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, Afghan refugees’ repatriation, wheat shortages, black-market regulation, flood damage assessment and nationwide policy coordination.

However, Afridi, despite being in Islamabad, declined to participate.

Ikhtiar Wali Khan, the prime minister’s coordinator for information and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa affairs, condemned the decision, saying the province’s representation was handed to “a person so deeply lost in personality worship that he has made governance subservient to it”.

“Instead of safeguarding this land for which our forefathers sacrificed their lives, we now seem willing to let it crumble,” he said. “The chief minister’s tone makes it clear that his personal loyalties outweigh his duty to the country.”

Wali Khan said Afridi’s absence from such a crucial meeting amounted to betraying the 40 million citizens of K-P, adding that the province’s losses in policy and coordination would be the responsibility of PTI and the new chief minister.

“The federal government is motivated by love for Pakistan, but the K-P chief minister is consumed by love for Imran Khan,” he alleged.

“He must stop using the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as fuel for his politics. The CM’s office is a symbol of the state … it should display the national flag and [Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali] Jinnah’s portrait, not personal loyalties.”

Meanwhile, PML-N’s K-P spokesperson Rahmat Salam Khattak also denounced Afridi’s decision, calling it “deeply regrettable and irresponsible”.

He said the meeting discussed rehabilitation of flood victims, flour price inflation and the resurgence of terrorism, all issues directly affecting the province.

“This behaviour shows the provincial government’s apathy towards public suffering,” Khattak said. “People in flood-hit areas are still waiting for relief, flour has become unaffordable, and terrorism is again rearing its head, yet the chief minister continues to prioritise political grudges over national interest.”

He said the PML-N believes cooperation between the federation and provinces is essential for national security, economic recovery, and public relief, but “unfortunately, the PTI-led provincial government has repeatedly chosen confrontation, stubbornness and blame politics over collaboration”.

Khattak urged the K-P chief minister to “act beyond partisanship, recognise his constitutional and moral responsibilities, and work with the Centre for the people’s welfare”.