K-P CM defends skipping federal meeting on Afghan refugees

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday declined to attend a federal government meeting on Afghan refugees and agriculture, designating former finance adviser Muzzammil Aslam to represent the province instead.

According to official sources, the federal government had invited the chief minister to the high-level session on the repatriation of Afghan refugees and related policy issues. However, Afridi excused himself, saying he could not attend without first consulting the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman, Imran Khan.

“I have personally declined participation because the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gave their mandate to the PTI founder. Until I meet him and receive policy guidelines, joining such meetings would be a violation of that public mandate,” Afridi said in a statement.

He added that the provincial government’s legal team was pursuing the issue before the Islamabad High Court and other legal forums, expressing hope that “the federal government will resolve the matter soon”.

Later, in a separate meeting with former provincial minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, the chief minister said that peace, good governance, and releasing the party supremo and all political detainees were his top priorities.