Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Huzaifa Rehman said on Tuesday that the Centre has asked the Punjab government to arrange a meeting between KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI founder Imran Khan to facilitate the formation of the provincial cabinet.

Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the May 9 protests. The PTI has regularly raised concerns about the lack of access to the party founder and how family, friends and party leaders are hindered from meeting him.

Afridi, who was elected as the provincial chief minister last week, was denied a meeting with Imran during a visit to the prison on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, he said he would announce his cabinet after consulting Imran and seeking his input.

He claimed he had officially notified the Punjab government and the federal government of his plan to visit Adiala, but received no response, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not reply to his subsequent request, made during a phone call, to facilitate a meeting with Imran. He approached the Islamabad High Court on Friday, seeking permission to meet Imran.

Questioned about the matter in an interview on DawnNewsTV show ‘Doosra Rukh’, Rehman said: “I hope this meeting will take place in the coming days. The federal government has asked the provincial government to arrange this so the cabinet there (in KP) can be formed.”

Asked again whether the Centre had issued a direction for the meeting to the Punjab government, Rehman clarified that while an order could not be given since the provincial governments were autonomous, the prime minister had “urged” the provincial authorities and the federal government had also requested to “do this as soon as possible”.

Rehman added that as per his information, the Punjab government was devising a mechanism and fulfilling all “cordial formalities”, adding that the meeting would be “held soon”.

Speaking during Monday’s KP Assembly session, CM Afridi said that he wrote letters to the chief justice of Pakistan and federal and provincial governments and even petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for ensuring his meeting with Imran, but to no avail.

He said he would challenge the federal government over the continued denial of his meeting with Imran and would boycott meetings called by it.