The PTI on Tuesday decided to convene a peace jirga in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (KPA) on November 12 to discuss the volatile law and order situation in the province.

The decision to hold the jirga at the assembly’s hall at 11am was taken in a high-level consultative meeting of the party’s KP leadership, which was jointly chaired by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial PTI president Junaid Akbar.

The meeting was also attended by KPA Speaker Babar Saleem Swati; provincial secretary general Ali Azghar Khan; provincial ministers Meena Khan Afridi and Aftab Alam Khan; KP spokesperson Shafi Jan; MNAs Atif Khan, Dr Amjad Khan and Arbab Sher Ali and PTI Peshawar President Irfan Saleem.

The meeting discussed in detail the overall political situation in the province and matters of law and order, according to a statement. The participants consulted on various aspects of holding the peace jirga and future strategy.

The PTI leadership decided that all parties would be invited to participate so that all political leadership could be united on a single platform for the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the province.

The statement said the heads, presidents and general secretaries of all political parties in the province, former chief ministers, former governors, representatives of civil society and the dignitaries of the KP Bar Association would be invited to participate in the moot.

Atif told Dawn that the law and order situation had reached an alarming level in KP and the matter could not be overcome by a single political party.

“It will be a national peace jirga in which the leadership of around 20 political parties will be invited for discussion and decisions needed to be taken for the restoration of peace in the province,” he said.

He said that convening the peace jirga was an effort for a joint struggle and to convey a message with one voice related to the restoration of law and order. He said that all efforts would be made to develop a consensus in the upcoming peace moot.

Atif said CM Afridi also visited Paktunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to invite them to participate.

National and political matters were discussed in the meeting, especially the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment and its possible impact on provincial autonomy.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that the share of the merged districts had not yet been provided in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, according to a statement issued from the Chief Minister’s House.

He said that tampering with the NFC award would be harmful to national unity. CM Afridi and Achakzai also discussed the situation in Kurram.

Achakzai assured the chief minister of his full cooperation to protect the constitutional and financial rights of the province.