KP – CM Afridi refuses to join PM’s huddle on Afghan refugees.

Peshawar – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) –  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi rejected to join a top-level meeting held by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday to plan a strategy for the future of Afghan refugees.

Muzzamil Aslam, former chief minister’s finance adviser, represented Mr Afridi in the meeting.

In a statement on X, the chief minister stated that he refused to attend a federal government conference on agriculture and Afghan refugees because attending such meetings without policy directives from incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan would be a disgrace to the people’s mandate.

He hoped that the federal government would resolve the issue of his meeting with Mr Khan and direct relevant authorities to arrange his regular meetings with the party’s founder.

Mr Afridi said that his legal team was approaching the Islamabad High Court and other forums on the matter.

Earlier in the day, he was denied a meeting with Mr Imran in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. He returned after waiting for permission for over two hours.

Mr Afridi has approached Supreme Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi through the registrar of the apex court, requesting him to direct the federal government and other relevant authorities to arrange his meeting with Mr Imran.

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The letter, sent by KP Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, stated that after being elected chief minister, Mr Afridi had a constitutional and moral obligation to consult Imran Khan for guidance and instruction on urgent and sensitive matters concerning governance and cabinet formation in the province.
“I have already approached the secretary of the ministry of interior and secretary home department Punjab for arranging a meeting Mr Khan; however, despite repeated communications follow-ups, the said meeting has not yet been confirmed,” the letter further stated.

It added that Mr Afridi was responsible for the governance and securing the fundamental rights and matters relating to the security situation, formation of provincial cabinet, and critical economic challenges faced by the people of the province.

“There is a pressing need to seek direction from Mr [Imran] Khan regarding these matters and others related to the federation and other provinces,” the letter said. It said that seeking the PTI founder’s directions was extremely essential as the Punjab government had stopped inter-provincial trade of flour and wheat.

Mr Afridi, who took oath of office on Wednesday after several days of deadlock, has yet not to form his cabinet.

Talking to reporters on the Peshawar High Court’s premises here on Thursday, he said that he would announce his cabinet after getting its approval from Mr Imran.

Meanwhile, former adviser to the chief minister Muzzammil Aslam told Dawn that in the meeting with PM, he raised the province’s concerns over the hasty closure of 28 refugee camps in the province, as ordered by the federal government on Monday.

He said that KP had 38 refugee camps compared to 10 in Punjab and one in Balochistan, so the Centre shouldn’t take any hasty decision on the matter.

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Mr Aslam said he also raised the issue of dignified return of refugees as well as business visa policy for Afghan businessmen.

He said that the meeting agreed that KP and the interior ministry would hold a meeting over the repatriation of refugees.