Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday slammed Governor Faisal Karim Kundi for holding “unconstitutional” meetings, contending that the move was an “attack on democracy”.
His remarks came a day after Governor Kundi chaired a meeting with the KP chief secretary and inspector general (IG) on the province’s security situation.
Addressing the 60th cabinet meeting in Peshawar, Afridi said that the KP governor, who belonged to the PPP, staged a “drama” yesterday by summoning the meeting and termed the move “unconstitutional”.
“The governor convening such a meeting in the presence of a provincial government with a two-thirds majority is unacceptable,” he said.
“The provincial assembly, cabinet and government are fully functional and intact,” the PTI leader asserted, terming Kundi’s act an “attack on the Constitution and democracy”.
Afridi contended that the purpose of the governor’s “unconstitutional activities” was to “provoke the provincial government and force it to react”.
However, he advised PTI workers to stay peaceful and abide by the law and the Constitution.
Calling on the province’s chief secretary and IG, the chief minister urged them not to comply with any unconstitutional or illegal order from anyone if he does not order them to do so.
He reiterated that KP’s people and administration had made “countless sacrifices” in the fight against terrorism.
“If someone pushes you to follow any unconstitutional order, do not follow it. It can damage our province or the country.”
He also called on the chief secretary to urge the provincial administration not to indulge in any unconstitutional activity and to take action against those who were accused of corrupt practices.
The chief minister then took aim at Kundi’s PPP, blaming ex-president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, along with General Yahya Khan, for the separation of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
He accused President Asif Ali Zardari of “intending to make another East Pakistan here“.
“We will not allow any conspiracy to break up Pakistan to succeed,” he asserted.
“The party that raised the slogan of democracy separated Bangladesh from Pakistan in the past for its personal interests,” he alleged.
“Prioritising personal interests over national interests has been the PPP’s practice,” he further claimed.
Afridi’s remarks come amid heightened tensions between the Centre and the PTI-led opposition, with the latter going ahead with its long march despite warnings from the Centre of action against any such move.
Hours-long talks over the weekend between a joint delegation of the government and PPP, and the opposition alliance ended in a deadlock, with both sides blaming the other for the breakdown.
Political temperatures have also remained high due to speculations of the Centre imposing governor’s rule in the province, with Kundi and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussing the move on Sunday.
‘Policy shift is necessary’
The KP CM also reiterated his objection to the Centre’s counterterrorism policy and defended his government’s efforts in supporting the police in the fight against terrorism.
He contended that terrorism had been “imposed on the province again”, asserting that the PTI-led provincial government had always supported the police and the people of KP.
Afridi maintained that he had been making efforts to strengthen the police, the Counter-Terrorism Department and Special Branch since he took the oath on Oct 15, 2025.
“The KP police have the most modern weapons and equipment compared with any other police force in Pakistan,” the chief minister said.
He contended that the federal government had always treated KP like a “stepchild”.
“The tribal districts were merged into KP in 2018, but they have not been fully integrated financially to this day,” CM Afridi claimed, adding that the financial rights of the tribal districts agreed upon at the time of their merger had not been provided yet.
The PTI leader went on to claim that federal governments had “continuously imposed military operations” on KP since 2004.
“People displaced by the federal government’s wrong policies kept crying on the streets, but they have still not received full compensation,” he said, adding that nearly Rs100 billion in compensation were still outstanding.
“Those whose homes were destroyed, families affected and mosques demolished are still wandering from pillar to post for their compensation.”
He highlighted that while a compensation of only Rs400,000 per household had been fixed for tribal families, they had not even been paid the promised amount.
Afridi stressed that a commitment was also made to provide between Rs370million and Rs380m per month to displaced people from North Waziristan at the Baka Khel camp. “The displaced people of Baka Khel are still not being provided the monthly amount as promised.”
“It is the provincial government’s responsibility to stand with people displaced by the federal government’s wrong policies,” the chief minister stated, adding that his government had provided Rs21bn for displaced people.
“The provincial government also has to bear responsibility for losses caused by military operations and collateral damage as a result of drone attacks,” Afridi said.
He also remarked that the individuals making decisions in the federal government had no sense of the difficulties faced by the people as a result of those decisions.
“If the federal government is sincere with KP, it should upgrade the province’s NFC (National Finance Commission) share and pay its outstanding dues of around Rs125bn to the province that has sacrificed 80,000 precious lives,” he demanded.
Afridi reaffirmed that KP had to fight terrorism as well as deal with the situation created by the federal government’s policies.
“The KP government and police are serious about maintaining law and order. Turning the police into personal servants and assigning them other tasks is wrong,” he declared.
“If the policy of KP’s stakeholders is followed, peace can be established within 100 days,” the PTI leader insisted.
He questioned why peace could not be established in the province “despite 14,000 intelligence-based operations and 22 major military operations over 22 years”, terming it a “failure of the federal policy”.
Afridi maintained that if the issue of peace still exists in KP even after 22 years, the federal government should change its policy against terrorism if it was “serious in doing so”.
“The excuse that KP is not cooperating is unacceptable; the same policy is also failing in Balochistan,” he claimed, as both provinces have witnessed an increase in terrorist activities in recent years.
“The Balochistan government is cooperating with the federal government, but peace has still not been established there,” Afridi said, claiming the Centre’s counterterrorism policy was neither effective in KP nor in Balochistan.
“A shift in policy is necessary. KP can establish peace within 100 days,” he reaffirmed.
In his address, Afridi also once again criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks that her province faced no threats from India, despite the state’s narrative of the presence of Indian proxies in Pakistan in the face of Fitna al Hindustan.
Asif says ‘enough is enough’
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif assailed the PTI-led KP government for continuing its “complete detachment from terrorism in the province and criminal indifference”.
“Enough is enough!!!” he wrote in a post on X.
“The PTI provincial government is roaming the streets for a so-called failed political long march, while its facilitators have unleashed a fresh wave of terrorism against the people of KP during this very time,” he said.
The minister recalled Tuesday’s attacks in Dera Ismail Khan, where customs officials were among five people killed.
He remarked that the entire provincial cabinet, including the chief minister, was “numb to this serious matter and fully engrossed in their politically failed long march”.
“As always, these insensitive and shameless people did not even condemn the innocent murder of these five individuals in DI Khan, offered no condolences to the grieving families, did not attend their funerals or, at the very least, visit their homes to express regret,” Asif regretted.
“This is inexcusable by any standard.”
Instead, the defence minister noted, the KP CM had scheduled a meeting today at his party’s behest to reprimand the IG and chief secretary for attending the governor’s security meeting.
“The chief minister and his cabinet of a province under the scourge of terrorism have completely abandoned the province’s people to the mercy of the terrorists. That is why the people of KP are protesting against the provincial government on the streets in various areas.
“This can no longer be tolerated,” Asif declared.
The defence minister accused the KP government of being in “complete collusion” with terrorists, saying there was evidence available of “its facilitator ecosystem, which every Pakistani has witnessed with their own eyes over the past three years”.
Recalling past arrests of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif and his family members, as well as PML-N leaders, Asif asserted: “Time has proven that the allegations were just allegations and they were imprisoned on Imran Khan’s behest.”
Yet, he stressed, the PML-N fulfilled its parliamentary role responsibly under the Constitution and did not hold the country and institutions “hostage”.
“It fought a legal and constitutional battle in the courts and parliament. It did not ally with the Taliban,” Asif declared.
The defence minister said that the “time has come to make crucial decisions”.
“KP cannot be left any longer to the mercy of incompetent, insensitive rulers and Taliban allies,” he avowed.
Asif further stressed that the unity of the country cannot be put at risk. “An entire province cannot be held hostage. Enough is enough.”
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