Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday clarified that his “only stance” was to implement PTI founder Imran Khan’s directives to run his province and prepare for the party’s street movement.
Afridi had previously announced that Karachi was his next destination for galvanising party supporters after he concluded his three-day visit to Lahore, where he also met with the families of jailed senior PTI leaders.
In a post on social media platform X earlier in the day, the KP chief minister said, “I have only one stance. My leader (Imran) has directed me to prepare for a street movement, along with running the administrative affairs of my province.
“God-willing, I will implement them in letter and spirit. Any other news attributed to me would be someone’s personal assumption,” he added.
About his upcoming visit to Karachi, CM Afridi said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, “respecting democratic values and his office’s dignity”, has invited him for a meeting.
Afridi said he had thanked Murad for the invitation and told him that he would meet “the people of my province, and if they had any sort of concerns or issues”, he would definitely meet the Sindh chief minister to resolve those.
While the KP CM had earlier stated January 9 (Friday) as the date for his planned trip to Karachi, in his statement today, Afridi said he would pay a visit to Mazar-i-Quaid at around 4pm on January 11 (Sunday).
Afridi’s latest statement highlighting his focus on the street movement comes after it was reported that he had said he was ready to hold talks with the establishment on provincial matters and improve relations.
Speaking to journalists in Peshawar on Friday, the KP CM said Imran had not instructed him on anything regarding talks with the establishment, and that the ex-premier had assigned the task to Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senator Allama Raja Nasir.
However, reports quoted Afridi as saying that if any ceremony or meeting takes place, he would definitely meet Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
During his visit to Lahore, CM Afridi had cast doubt on the government’s sincerity in holding talks with the PTI and said he was actively making efforts to initiate the party’s street movement by reaching out to multiple stakeholders.
Asked whether he believed issues with the federal government could be resolved through talks, Afridi said Imran had assigned the responsibility for “dialogue or protest” to the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP).