PESHAWAR: Special assistant to the chief minister on information and public relations Shafi Jan on Sunday said the news conferences by the federal cabinet members are failed attempts to distort fact.

He said that the federal government’s priority was not national interest, but mere petty politics, read an official statement issued from his office.

Mr Jan said that the historic peace jirga held in Khyber under the leadership of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was a clear manifestation of public trust and the provincial government’s sincere efforts.

“However, even this positive development is being subjected to political point-scoring by the federal government. Repeatedly targeting Mr Afridi by the federal government is, in fact, an insult to the elected leadership and public mandate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which the people of the province will never accept,” he said.

Mr Jan said that ‘the incompetent rulers’ had endangered national integrity and were continuously indulging in petty politics over the affairs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He recalled that initially the so-called federal ministers staged a drama over the release of Rs4 billion by the provincial government for the affected people of Tirah. Now, they were raising alarms over alleged corruption related to that very sum in an attempt to mislead the public. This, he argued, exposed the glaring contradictions within the federal government.

Mr. Jan questioned the federal government’s silence on the Rs 5,300 billion corruption highlighted in the recent IMF report, while it continued to make a fuss over provincial resources. He described this as clear evidence of the federation’s double standards. Furthermore, he asserted that the people had rejected the federal government’s misleading propaganda regarding the Tirah issue.

The chief minister’ special assistant said that the rejected clique daily staged political dramas to save their seat, which the public had outrightly rejected, adding that the street movement was no longer a mere protest but had turned into a public frenzy.

“The nation will never forgive the federal government for its drama over the health of founder PTI Imran Khan. The party’s complete focus is on Mr Khan’s release and the disposal of illegal cases against him,” the statement quoted Mr Jan as saying.

He said the days of the federal and Punjab governments were numbered and PTI’s peaceful political movement would prove to be the final nail in the political coffin of the fake rulers, adding that public fervour would pave the way for real and sustainable change in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2026