PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Tuesday announced a pen-down strike across the province tomorrow (May 6) over the Centre’s alleged “discrimination” against KP.

In a statement, the chief minister contended that the Centre was discriminating against KP as the province had a government led by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

“The federal government is deliberately discriminating against our province in the National Finance Commission Award payment and electric and gas supply issues,” he insisted.

Since becoming the provincial chief executive in October 2025, Mr Afridi has repeatedly accused the federal government of stalling the release of funds allocated for KP, particularly those committed for the merged tribal districts under the NFC Award.

Complains Imran, his wife denied treatment by personal doctors

He said that emergency services would be exempt from the pen-down strike.

The chief minister urged all lawyers “who uphold the Constitution and the law” to participate in the strike.

He also lamented that Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi were not being allowed to be treated by their personal doctors.

“Not allowing Imran Khan to meet his family and lawyers is inhumane and illegal,” he said.

In January, CM Afridi had written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz over what he dubbed the Centre’s “persistent failure” to release “constitutionally guaranteed” funds, demanding the “full and unconditional” release of all outstanding federal dues.

Days later, he met with the prime minister and emphasised the need for cooperation between the Centre and the KP government while discussing provinces’ due shares.

On March 26, the KP government’s representative walked out of the NFC subgroup meeting on merged tribal districts after the other three provinces refused to include the region’s population in the new resource distribution formula, which could have increased KP’s share from the existing 14.62pc to 18.96pc.

The province also requested the Centre to revise the NFC resource distribution formula.

On March 31, federal finance minister Mohammad Aurangzeb promised his “full support” to Afridi for the resolution of all legitimate issues as the two met in Islamabad.

Late last month, supporting the KP government’s stance on the issue, the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) urged the Centre to give the province, including the merged districts, its due share under the NFC Award.

Meanwhile, the Awami National Party criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s announcement of a pen-down strike on May 6, terming it “a joke with the people of the province” and an attempt to divert attention from pressing public issues.

In a statement here on Tuesday, ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spokesperson Arslan Khan Nazim said the provincial government was resorting to “theatrics” to conceal its inefficiency and failures.

He added that such symbolic measures would not resolve the province’s problems but instead aggravate public hardships by paralysing essential government services.

Reacting to the strike call, Mr Nazim acknowledged that the province had genuine grievances against the federal government, but stressed that those issues should be addressed through effective constitutional and political struggle rather than disrupt administrative machinery.

He noted that matters such as the NFC Award, electricity supply, and gas shortages were serious concerns requiring a consistent, strategic and mature approach.

Highlighting his party’s past role, Mr Nazim said the ANP, despite having only 13 members, had played a key role in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and also contributed to the introduction of a new NFC Award.

He questioned whether the province had secured its due rights when the current ruling party was previously in power at the Centre.

“The provincial government appears to be evading its constitutional responsibilities,” he said, adding that instead of improving governance, maintaining law and order, and providing relief to the public, it was engaging in political point-scoring.

Mr Nazim alleged that both the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had demonstrated similar attitudes when it came to safeguarding the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2026