Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday congratulated newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi during a telephone call, expressing the federal government’s willingness to work closely with the provincial administration in the broader national interest.
“The Federation is ready to work with you in the interests of Pakistan,” the prime minister said, according to a statement issued by the PM Office.
Afridi secures protective bail
Afridi, who took oath as KP’s chief minister on Wednesday evening following a week-long political and constitutional impasse in the province, also secured protective bail from the Peshawar High Court till November 18 earlier in the day.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar heard Afridi’s bail plea, with the chief minister appearing in person. The court directed authorities to provide details of any criminal cases against him at the next hearing.
Departs to meet Imran
Following the proceedings, Afridi told reporters that he intended to meet Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, who remains incarcerated at Adiala Jail since August 2023.
Shortly after the hearing, PTI lawyer Naeem Panjhuta and CM’s Focal Person on Digital Media Yar Muhammad Khan Niazi confirmed that Afridi had departed for the prison to meet Khan.
However, PTI later claimed on social media that authorities had not allowed the chief minister to meet the party founder, terming the move an “anti-Pakistan act.”
In a letter issued a day earlier, the KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department had requested the Punjab Home Department and the federal Interior Ministry to make “necessary arrangements” for the meeting between the chief minister and the PTI founder.