PM Shehbaz criticises PTI's 13-year K-P rule, urges PML-N to focus on welfare
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif criticised the PTI's 13-year rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a PML-N parliamentary party meeting in Islamabad. He urged the party's provincial leadership to prioritise short-term public welfare projects.
- Shehbaz Sharif addressed the PML-N parliamentary party meeting at Parliament House on Saturday.
- He criticised PTI's 13 years in government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- He urged the provincial PML-N to prioritise short-term welfare projects.
- He defended the decision to impose governor's rule and an emergency in the province.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's 13-year rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to The Express Tribune. He was addressing the PML-N parliamentary party meeting at Parliament House in Islamabad.
He urged the party's provincial leadership to prioritise short-term public welfare projects. He said the PML-N would continue working for the development and welfare of the people of the province.
Shehbaz said the people, police, armed forces and political leadership of K-P had made unprecedented sacrifices in the war against terrorism. He also said: "Pakistan suffered enormous human and economic losses in the war against terrorism".
He said the Ministry of Interior had told the National Assembly that security forces neutralised 2,410 terrorists in 5,143 intelligence-based operations in the first nine months of 2026. He further said terrorists had been brought back from Afghanistan and resettled in Pakistan in 2019 and 2020.
On resources, Shehbaz said K-P received an additional 1% under the 2010 NFC Award, amounting to Rs800 billion, but no money was spent on strengthening counterterrorism capabilities. He said: "Available resources should have been utilised to equip the police with modern weapons and provide them with professional training". He asked how many Safe City projects had been set up in K-P and said around 5,000 vacant police positions had not been filled.
The prime minister also recalled the 2014 sit-in, saying it led to the postponement of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Pakistan. He said Xi visited in 2015 and signed several agreements.
Shehbaz defended the decision to impose governor's rule and an emergency in K-P. He said PPP and PML-N committees held discussions for 48 hours to resolve the matter, but approval of the agreed draft could not be secured.
He also said Rs75 billion was allocated for a fuel subsidy scheme that benefited around 13 million people. The Associated Press of Pakistan also reported that he met PML-N parliamentary party members from K-P.
Why it matters
The dispute over governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bears on development spending, policing and services for millions of people in the province.
