ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Tuesday said if KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was not allowed to meet the PTI founding chairman, the provincial cabinet would be kept small.
Talking to the media near the Adiala Jail at Dahgal checkpoint in Rawalpindi, he said if the KP chief minister was not permitted to meet PTI founder Imran Khan, a decision had been made to form a small cabinet. He pointed out that Sohail Afridi had requested a meeting with the founder, which was a legitimate request, as people had also been meeting Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. “The province cannot be left without a cabinet. Permission will be sought from the founding chairman later to expand the cabinet,” he explained.
He also wanted to meet his jailed leader Imran Khan, but the police stopped him at the checkpoint. To a question, Gohar said he did not know how many vehicles were given to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. The given vehicles were previously in use by the UN. However, he emphasized that it was the responsibility of the federation to provide the best vehicles to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He reiterated that his party was against all kinds of terrorism, against which it was necessary to implement the National Action Plan. He underlined the need that there should be no politics on the issue of terrorism, as it was mentioned in the National Action Plan that the capacity of the provinces against terrorism would be increased. There should be a time frame for sending back the Afghan refugees, he said and added that they should not be sent back in a dishonorable manner. “We want these people not to become a threat to us by going back. No land, including Afghanistan, should be used against Pakistan. The non-participation of the chief minister KP in a meeting called by the prime minister should not be made an issue,” he maintained.
He said the KP CM himself would look into the matter of the short cabinet and would include whoever was more qualified. He said they did not get a stay on NA-18 Haripur as the party founder has given permission to contest the by-election of this constituency and the papers of Omar Ayub’s wife have been submitted for this seat.
Gohar said: “Losing by 400 votes in the Supreme Court bar elections is a cause of concern for us, we are very sad and regretful. We are seriously considering the defeat in the Supreme Court bar elections.”
