PTI founder Imran Khan said that his party had been given a mandate by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and would not act against their interests.
Imran’s remarks come after Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday vowed the country would not ‘mortgage’ the security of its people with any country.
“Appeasement of terrorists and their facilitators is never and not a policy,” he said during a press conference in Peshawar, where he spoke at length about the prevailing security environment in KP.
The DG ISPR sounded aggressive when asked about calls by Imran — who is currently in jail — to seek direct negotiations with the Afghan Taliban to end bloodshed in the province ruled by his political party. “The state of Pakistan and its armed forces would not be bothered by political distortions,” he asserted.
“The state and its people will not and cannot be left to the whims of any single person who is singularly the most responsible man for bringing terrorism back to KP,” the ISPR chief said, without taking any names. He had also picked holes in what he called “governance gaps” in the province in terms of infrastructure and funding for counter-terrorism efforts.
In a message posted on Imran’s official X account last night, the PTI founder congratulated KP MPAs over the transition in governance following Sohail Afridi’s election as the new chief minister.
“The way members of the KP Assembly voted for my nominated chief minister, without any ifs or buts, is commendable,” he said.
He also paid tribute to outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who resigned “not once but thrice” without any hesitation.
