PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) provincial parliamentary party has constituted a special team of legal experts to examine all constitutional and legal matters about the provincial budget as the ruling party awaits permission to meet its incarcerated founder, Imran Khan.

This decision was made in a parliamentary party meeting late on Friday night.

The decision has been made in the aftermath of the ongoing schism in party ranks over party faction concerns over lack of efforts to release Imran Khan. Earlier last week, Aleema Khan, sister of Imran Khan, had also asked the KP chief minister Sohail Afridi to not present budget without meeting Imran Khan. A similar situation had also emerged earlier last year over consultation with Imran Khan before the passage of budget.

A member who attended the party’s meeting told Dawn that it was agreed to pass the budget as not doing so would be damaging for the provincial government.

Declares any bid by Centre to restrict KP’s ‘democratic mandate, financial entitlements’ to be strongly resisted

He, however, said that some members also took up the issue of presenting three months budget but it didn’t get much attention.

The member said that a legal committee has been constituted to look into all aspects of the budget and it was scheduled to meet on Saturday night.

KP adviser to the chief minister on finance Muzzammil Aslam told Dawn that the finance department had moved a summary to present the provincial budget on June 15 but the approved summary had yet not received by the speaker’s office.

He, however, said that federal government had promised to update the National Finance Commission (NFC) through a presidential ordinance in their meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, in exchange for fiscal space from KP side.

Mr Aslam said that had also asked the federal side to arrange their meeting with Imran Khan to get his approval.

He said that the PTI founder had also supported the decisions made for national interest and security and would do the same this time, too.

The adviser, however, said the meeting with the party’s founder was their legitimate demand and the federal government should allow them to meet him.

He said that they had so far not received a go-ahead for the meeting with Mr Imran.

Mr Aslam said the finance department had prepared a budget for a year and ready to present it whenever directed by the provincial government.

“We have done our work and ready to present it whenever government tells us to do so,” he said.

Meanwhile, a statement issued after the parliamentary party meeting read that the participants were informed that if access to jailed former PM Imran continued to be denied, the legal team would undertake a detailed review of all constitutional and legal options concerning the budgetary process and formulate a comprehensive legal course of action to safeguard the constitutional rights of KP.

It added that the meeting unequivocally declared that any attempt to undermine the province’s budgetary autonomy or curtail its development resources would be unacceptable.

Also, the party decided that any attempt by the federal government to reduce the province’s budgetary allocations or development resources would not be accepted without consultation with Imran.

The meeting undertook a comprehensive review of the federal government’s recent conduct, the emerging situation surrounding the provincial budget, the possibility of reductions in development allocations and the prevailing political environment. The participants agreed to pursue a robust political and legal strategy aimed at protecting the legitimate interests of the province and its people.

“The parliamentary party emphasised that any effort by the federal government to restrict the province’s democratic mandate, financial entitlements or development interests would invite strong political resistance,” it said.

It said that those responsible for undermining the public mandate, the meeting noted, would be challenged and exposed through all constitutional, political and public forums.

The meeting also reiterated that every constitutional and democratic avenue would be pursued to protect the rights of the people of KP and that no unconstitutional action would be met with silence or acquiescence.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026