PESHAWAR: The ruling PTI’s lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday voiced serious concern about the “poor” health of their incarcerated leader and former prime minister, Imran Khan, and demanded his immediate transfer to the hospital for treatment.

During an assembly session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati here, the treasury members insisted that no one could be denied basic human rights, let alone a former prime minister.

They urged the federal and Punjab governments to grant Mr Khan access to personal doctors, warning that the jailed leaders of other political parties could be denied healthcare in the future.

Special assistant to the chief minister for food Mohammad Israr Khan requested the chair to suspend the house’s routine agenda to discuss reports about the PTI founder’s poor health in jail.

Immediate hearing into PTI founder’s cases also demanded

The chair later sought the consent of the house before suspending the routine agenda, saying several political parties and Mr Khan’s followers are concerned about his health.

Mr Israr said the current rulers could stay in power by threatening people and not through love.

“This fear will have consequences. Once the situation goes out of control, you [rulers] will never control people,” he said.

The aide to the CM demanded Mr Khan be given access to doctors and warned if that didn’t happen, the situation could spin out of control.

“Mr Khan is behind bars but at stalls around KP, the only flag you find alongside the national flag for celebrating the upcoming Independence Day is the PTI’s,” he said.

Mr Israr said the PTI would never compromise its cause.

He said that Mr Khan, a former prime minister known globally, had never asked to go abroad or to the hospital.

The special assistant said that despite reports about the PTI leader’s poor health, he was denied access to his personal physician in the jail.

Treasury MPA Ihtisham Ali claimed that everyone in the country and abroad were aware of what Mr Khan had done for the country.

He said whenever lawmakers went abroad, they’re asked about the imprisonment of the PTI founder, but they had no answer.

Mr Ali insisted that PPP founder and former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged just because he always talked about Pakistan.

“We’re not living in the 1970s. Youth of this era can fight for their rights,” he said.

The lawmaker called for an immediate hearing into Mr Khan’s cases.

“Ask even a child who has imprisoned Mr Khan and you will have the answer,” he said, demanding the immediate transfer of PTI founder Imran Khan to the hospital.

Earlier, during the question hour, member of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party Ahmad Kairm Kundi wondered whether the biannual report of the National Finance Commission is being tabled in the house.

He said it was an important issue as the NFC was the forum that decided about the distribution of national resources and finances, including revenue, to provinces and the Centre.

The lawmaker said the data could help members hold both provincial and federal governments accountable but a delay in the tabling of official NFC Award reports had emerged as a hurdle.

He said Article 160 of the Constitution defined how the NFC Award was constituted, while Article 163(b) declared that the federal and provincial finance ministers would monitor implementation of the award biannually and lay their NFC Award reports before both houses of parliament and respective provincial assemblies.

“The 2025 NFC report should have been tabled in the house,” he said, questioning how parliamentarians could monitor matters in the absence of the report.

Mr Kundi said the NFC Award could be amended only after provinces and the Centre developed consensus.

He said the 7th NFC Award was changed unilaterally in 2015 in an unconstitutional move and that Balochistan’s Rs83 billion share in national resources had been protected.

The opposition member urged the KP government to take a stand on the issue. He requested the chair to refer the matter to the relevant house committee for discussion and recommendations.

Labour minister Faisal Tarakai said the KP government had submitted NFC Award reports to the house, while “homework” for the federal government’s 2024-25 and 2025-26 reports had been completed.

Treasury MPA Nazir Abbasi claimed that the federal government was reluctant to pay huge sums of outstanding amounts to the province. He said the chair should dedicate an entire day of the house to discuss the matter and the province’s other issues with the Centre.

Arbab Usman of the opposition ANP complained that five million children in the province were out of school.

He called for the scrutiny of the answer sheets of the students who obtained top positions and high grades in the latest intermediate board exams.

Another opposition member, Sardar Shahjahan Yousaf of the PML-N, complained about the PTI government’s failure to make any positive changes to the education system.

At his request, the chair referred the matter to the relevant house committee for discussion.

Sobia Shahid of the opposition PML-N later pointed out a lack of quorum.

As the treasury couldn’t ensure the presence of the required number of members, the chair adjourned the sitting until next Monday.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026