PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s future course of action would be unveiled during the August 5 gathering which will mark a decisive political milestone rather than a routine party event.
Addressing a joint parliamentary meeting of the PTI members from the national and provincial assemblies and Senate at the Chief Minister’s House here, Mr Afridi said that since Oct 15 last year when he assumed the office, the provincial government had consistently pursued constitutional, legal and democratic avenues to resolve political issues through dialogue.
He said that the PTI leadership had also remained committed to a negotiated resolution of outstanding matters; however, despite sustained efforts, these initiatives had not received a constructive response from the other side, according to a statement from his office.
Referring to efforts to meet with his jailed party leader and PTI founder, Imran Khan, the chief minister said he had approached both the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court and had sought meetings with their respective chief justices.
Expresses concern about Imran’s health in jail
He added that he had also raised the matter directly with the chief justice during a public event, maintaining that as the elected chief minister, it was both his constitutional and legal right to meet his party leader.
Mr Afridi emphasised that the provincial government’s policy direction was guided by Mr Imran’s vision, as the public mandate had been secured under his name and leadership.
He said that disregarding the mandate received by Mr Imran amounted to disregarding the democratic will of approximately 45 million KP citizens.
The chief minister said that the federal government was treating the province’s democratically elected government as a second-tier administration. Expressing concern about Mr Imran’s health, the chief minister called for his family members, sisters and personal physicians to be granted access to him.
He declared the PTI founder a national asset and the country’s most popular political leader, reiterating his call for access to family members, personal physicians and treatment at a medical facility of his preference.
Addressing allegations related to the events of 9 May, Mr Afridi said that PTI had consistently called for an independent, impartial and transparent investigation to establish the facts.
He reiterated Mr Imran’s publicly stated position that ‘the Army is mine and the country is mine,’ and said the PTI had responded to propaganda narratives through democratic and constitutional means.
The chief minister, however, said those efforts had not resulted in a resolution of the underlying issues.
He said after exhausting all constitutional and legal avenues, peaceful public protest was the only constitutional and democratic course available to the PTI.
“The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to peaceful assembly,” he said.
Describing the August 5 gathering as a defining political event, the chief minister said it would serve as a pivotal milestone in the party’s political strategy and that its future roadmap would be presented to the nation during the event.
He announced that following consultations with parliamentary representatives, the venue of the gathering had been relocated from the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium to a larger open site near the Peshawar motorway to facilitate public participation, improve traffic management and ensure easier access for participants travelling from across the province.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2026