ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking meeting with the ex-premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for final approval of the provincial budget for 2026-27.
Talking to the media after filing a petition with the court, Afridi insisted that they had moved the court, as the final approval for the next financial year budget should be in accordance with the founder’s vision. He underlined that consultation with the founder was necessary before the budget was finalised. “The government is busy with political revenge instead of improving the economy, whereas inflation, unemployment and poverty are continuously rising and industrialists are closing factories and transferring capital abroad,” he regretted. He said the farmers were facing difficulties, as government’s policies had damaged agriculture, while more than 45 percent of the population had fallen below the poverty line. He further said the national debt had increased from Rs43,000 billion to Rs97,000 billion in a few years.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he claimed, was being deprived of the NFC and other financial rights and that the federal government had cut Rs12 billion in the province’s funds. He added that over Rs30 billion was spent on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police in the war against terrorism.
He contended that the people of his province were being punished for supporting the PTI founder. Pakistan, he noted, housed 250 million people; therefore, the decisions should be made according to the will of the people. “The government’s priority is to put checks on the party founder and PTI and pay no heed to the masses’ problems. Pakistan does not need political strife but economic stability and development. The national economy and the poor people should be given priority,” Afridi contended.
He said wondered while Pakistan was facing an acute financial crisis where was the money going after taking loans. He pointed out that the IMF’s report on corruption and a ship worth Rs12 billion had come to light amid reports of people forced to commit suicides. Afridi noted that one of eyes of the party founder had severely damaged but despite that he was facing obstacles in treatment and meetings which was a matter of worry. He said not allowing Imran to meet his family, lawyers and party leaders was a huge injustice. He alleged that the rulers’ interest was to keep Imran in jail and rig Gilgit-Baltistan elections.
Talking to the media, Advisor to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on Finance Muzammil Aslam said Imran had instructed that he must be consulted before the budget was finalized but despite that he was unable to meet him. “Last year, I decided not to take any steps without consulting the founder regarding the IMF but the time for the budget has come,” he maintained. He underlined that a meeting with the party founder was essential and it would be apolitical. He claimed that there was nothing for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the federal government’s budget.
