PESHAWAR: Leader of the Opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Dr Ibadullah Khan on Monday warned that if the provincial government refused to present the budget for the next fiscal year, a “strong reaction” would come from the opposition benches.

During a meeting here, the opposition lawmakers expressed concern after the provincial government allegedly linked the budget 2026-27 to a meeting incarcerated former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, according to a statement issued from the office of Dr Ibadullah.

During the meeting called for consultation on constitutional and political matters, the opposition leader said the opposition lawmakers would not support any unconstitutional action under any circumstances.

He added that the failure to present the budget amounted to the violation of the rights of the people of the province.

Discusses constitutional, political matters

“The issue of meeting with the PTI founder is the party’s internal affair. It is inappropriate to condition presentation of the annual budget to any individual or political issue,” he said.

Dr Ibadullah said that it was the constitutional responsibility of the provincial government to present the budget under Article 120 of the Constitution, adding that the opposition benches demanded the government immediately presented the budget.

The leader of the opposition warned that the opposition lawmakers would oppose any step, so the government should immediately announce the date for presenting the budget.

Responding to rumours, Dr Ibadullah said that an interim budget was not a solution to the province’s problems and that if the government decided to bring an interim budget, the opposition lawmakers would strongly oppose it.

“People of our province cannot be sacrificed for political issues,” he said referring to the provincial government’s demands for a meeting with jailed PTI founder Imran Khan before presenting the provincial budget.

He claimed that PTI had lost its majority in the provincial assembly.

Mr Ibadullah said that affairs of the provincial government should run according to the Constitution and not according to political interests. He added that the opposition lawmakers would jointly protect the Constitution, democracy and public interests.

The meeting was held amid social media rumours that suggested that during a parliamentary committee meeting, some lawmakers from the treasury benches took up the issue of presenting three-month budget. However, it didn’t get much attention.

During the meeting held last week, the PTI provincial parliamentary party constituted a special team of legal experts to examine all constitutional and legal matters about the provincial budget as the ruling party awaited permission to meet its incarcerated founder, Imran Khan.

Also, Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister Imran Khan, had asked KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to not present budget without meeting Mr Khan. A similar situation emerged earlier last year over consultation with Imran before the passage of the provincial budget.

However, 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.

On June 13, 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 the meeting with the party’s founder was their legitimate demand and the federal government should allow them to meet him.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2026