Interior minister accuses KP CM of attempting to sabotage PTI-govt talks

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday accused Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of attempting to sabotage negotiations between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the federal government.

PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government held two rounds of negotiations on Friday and Saturday in an attempt to prevent the former’s planned long march towards Islamabad.

The talks, however, ended without a final agreement, with the two sides remaining divided over key issues, including access to jailed PTI founder Imran Khan and military operations in terrorism-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Naqvi said 99% of the points in the proposed agreement had already been settled during the negotiations.

“The agreement had been prepared,” Naqvi said, adding that he took a copy of the draft to President Asif Ali Zardari.

The interior minister said that after showing the agreement to the president and returning, he learnt that several changes had been made to the draft by the KP chief minister.

“Unfortunately, the KP chief minister tried to sabotage the negotiations,” Naqvi alleged.

Naqvi said four drafts had been prepared and amended during Saturday’s negotiations, with the participants examining and discussing the details before reaching an understanding on most of the points.

He said the government had made it clear to the opposition delegation that the matter under discussion was not political but concerned terrorism.

The interior minister’s remarks came after Afridi shared a seven-point draft of demands on X, saying it was the document he had presented to the negotiation committee.

ALSO READ: CM Afridi shares 7-point negotiations draft as govt disputes document

In a statement on X, Naqvi said the KP government had agreed to sign a written agreement and submit an implementation plan within 72 hours, but withdrew from the commitments during last night’s talks.

The proposed commitments included reconsideration of the Police Act 2026 in view of the security situation, preventing terrorists from operating freely or finding safe havens in the province, and an unequivocal condemnation of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) and other terrorist groups.

The agreement also covered support for the national policy on Afghan refugees, including repatriation and dismantling Afghan camps in KP, no contact with the interim Afghan government, substantial funding for counterterrorism operations and police, and full provincial ownership of counterterrorism measures.

It further called for stronger cooperation between the provincial government and armed forces, provincial decisions on counterterrorism in former FATA and merged districts, and implementation of the National Action Plan.

“Security must not be politicised while the province is at war,” Naqvi said.

His statement came a day after the second round of government-opposition talks ended in deadlock, with the opposition refusing to withdraw its October 4 long march unless its representatives were first allowed to meet jailed former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan.

The talks, held at the chambers of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, continued for more than eight hours but failed to produce an agreement. The government insisted that the opposition first call off the protest, while the opposition demanded a meeting with Khan involving opposition leaders and KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

Meanwhile, preparations for the long march continued, with Afridi announcing that its first phase would begin from Lakki Marwat on Sunday before proceeding through southern districts towards Peshawar.

The protest is being organised against the backdrop of heightened security concerns in KP, where security forces have been conducting operations against terrorists.