News Desk
Non-functional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Sohail Afridi, and some of his cabinet members are in preventative custody, officials confirmed on Monday.
The PTI had reported their detention on Sunday, shortly after the Centre imposed emergency and governor’s rule in the province under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
On Monday, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry told Reuters, “Yes, I can confirm that the chief minister (Sohail Afridi) and some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody.” If any of them have any cases to be tried against them, they will be charged and tried but the others will be released, he said, adding that the detentions happened on Sunday.
A senior police official privy to the developments also confirmed that eight people – including Afridi, MNA Junaid Akbar and assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati – had been taken into “preventative custody”.
Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram has said Afridi’s “arrest” could not be viewed in isolation from the federal government’s decision to impose emergency and governor’s rule. He contended that the arrests had “exposed the political nature of the federal government’s actions”. “These measures are not directed at addressing security challenges; they are intended to weaken [the] PTI, undermine the elected government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and disregard the democratic will of its people,” Akram added.
The emergency follows heightened tensions between the PML-N-led federal government and the PTI-led KP government. The Centre and opposition have been at odds over various issues, particularly the counterterrorism policy, which was one of the main reasons cited by both parties behind the breakdown of their Oct 3 talks.
The governor’s rule also coincided with the PTI’s long march to Islamabad, which was being led by Afridi and remained limited to KP. While the party has vowed to continue with its planned protest, the provincial police have been directed to thwart any such move.
Senate, NA sessions
The sessions of both Houses of Parliament Senate and National Assembly have been called on Tuesday afternoon.
According to sources, a meeting of the ruling PML-N’s Parliament Party will also be held in Islamabad at 4:00 pm tomorrow afternoon in which important decision are expected to be taken.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar will chair the parliamentary party meeting. The Senate and National Assembly session will begin at 5:00 pm, the sources said.