ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday to break the ice between the two political adversaries, saying that the meeting was held on a “positive” note where administrative issues of the province were discussed.
The meeting between the two was held at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Islamabad, where Gandapur had arrived to meet Sharif. Relations between the KP chief minister and Sharif had been tense, with Gandapur refusing to meet the Pakistani prime minister when he arrived in the province last week to meet rain-affected victims due to political differences.
Local media had widely reported Gandapur wanted the center to replace the incumbent KP chief secretary with bureaucrat Shahab Ali Shah. The KP chief minister is also actively seeking payment of the province’s outstanding dues from the center, which amount to billions of rupees.
“It was a very positive [meeting] and he assured his full support,” Gandapur, flanked by federal ministers, Sharif aides Ahsan Iqbal and Amir Muqam, told reporters after the meeting.
“About the outstanding dues, he said it is our province’s right which we will pay.”
Iqbal said he welcomed Gandapur’s meeting with Sharif, saying the prime minister had assured Gandapur the center would pay KP’s dues.
He said Sharif has directed Pakistan’s finance ministry personnel to resolve the issue of KP’s outstanding dues with the province’s relevant officials on Mar. 19, a day after Pakistan’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conclude.
“The resources that are due to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be paid to them,” Iqbal said. He said Sharif had assured Gandapur there would be no power cuts in the northwestern province during Sehri and Iftar times in Ramadan.
“The prime minister has also said that a team comprising members from KP province and the center be formed in the future, which would work with the center to solve the province’s problems,” he said.
When a reporter asked whether the prime minister had agreed to Gandapur’s demand to appoint Shah as the chief secretary, he replied:
“That is resolved, he has said the due process of that would be followed and the people of the province have given you the mandate so whatever team you want to bring, we would not have any reservations over that.”
The Punjab government’s decision this week to impose a two-week blanket ban on visits and meetings at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi due to security reasons also raised tensions between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Khan’s party said on Tuesday the move was an attempt to isolate the former prime minister, who is incarcerated at Adiala Jail, by keeping the media and his party colleagues away from him.
The ban had been imposed days after the government announced it had foiled a militant attack on the prison by arresting three individuals with heavy weaponry who were taken to an undisclosed location.
Gandapur said he had asked Sharif to facilitate a meeting between him and Khan.
“I told him political engagement with Khan is very necessary to solve political issues,” Gandapur said.
“He was very positive and told me plainly he would make my meeting possible so I can complete consultations regarding the [upcoming] Senate election.”
