Unable to meet jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for two days, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Sohail Afridi has moved the Supreme Court to fulfill his “constitutional and moral obligation”.
In a letter written to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi, the provincial chief executive maintained that he needed to consult with the jailed party founder, who is also the PTI’s patron-in-chief, to be able to constitute his provincial cabinet.
He said he had already approached the federal interior secretary, as well as the Punjab home secretary, for arranging the meeting at Adiala Jail but it had not yielded any results despite repeated follow-ups.
CM Afridi said that he also needed to meet Khan to discuss matters relating to law and order, critical economic challenges and policy matters regarding the people of the province.
“There is a pressing need to seek direction from the Founder Chairman/ Patron in Chief Mr Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, regarding the above matters and others, including relations regarding certain important matters with the Federation and other provinces,” read his letter to the top judge.
“The seeking of direction is extremely essential, even presently the province of Punjab has stopped the inter-provincial trade of wheat,” he added.
Afridi, who replaced Ali Amin Gandapur as the provincial chief executive, assumed charge of the office on Wednesday.
His election came after Gandapur was told by Khan to step down following a public feud with the party founder’s wife Bushra Bibi and sister Aleema Khan.
Gandapur had tendered his resignation shortly after being told to do so, paving the way for Afridi to be elected as the CM amid opposition boycotts in the provincial assembly.