THE young KP chief minister must be starting to realise just how thorny a seat he occupies. There has been a flurry of reports in recent weeks about serious disgruntlement within the PTI ranks in the provincial assembly, where a group of 20 to 30 lawmakers is said to be operating as a forward bloc. The group is believed to have developed differences with the provincial government shortly after the induction of new ministers, advisers and special assistants in CM Sohail Khan Afridi’s cabinet on May 22, ostensibly at being ‘overlooked’ in the appointments. Since then, PTI MPAs have started expressing worries about corruption in government departments, poor law and order, and the indifference of police, the district administration and bureaucracy to their needs. These complaints were also raised in a recent meeting convened by Mr Afridi, which was attended by 52 of his party’s 92 MPAs in KP. The disgruntled group has given its long list of grievances and concerns a cloak of legitimacy by adding the criticism that the provincial government is not doing enough to secure the release of incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan and his spouse.

That grievance is convenient precisely because it cannot be addressed. It is a demand the chief minister cannot meet, coming from lawmakers whose actual complaint is that they were passed over when new appointments were being handed out. There is very little anyone, including Mr Khan’s own family, has been able to do that has succeeded in securing access to him, let alone his release. Perhaps Mr Afridi should study the fate of his predecessor. Ali Amin Gandapur was hounded from office on the back of precisely this kind of internal revolt. What the PTI still does not seem to have realised is that its options are limited: short of a full-scale confrontation it is in no position to mount, it must accept the status quo. The party would be better served by paying attention to the problems being faced by its constituents and by expending its energies in finding solutions to the grave security situation in the sole province it currently rules. There are many files on Mr Afridi’s desk, which require undivided attention. The cost of his distraction and the party’s indiscipline will not be paid in Islamabad. It will be paid in Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026