RAWALPINDI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Tuesday said that the Centre had unlawfully stolen his party's mandate. He reiterated that they would not reconcile with those who had stolen their mandate and vowed to establish a system to prevent future mandate theft.
This statement followed his meeting with the former prime minister, who is currently detained at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
The KP CM affirmed that the provincial government would continue to maintain a cooperative relationship with the federal government.
Accusing the federal government of stealing their mandate, he expressed their refusal to compromise with "vote thieves." Furthermore, he called for an inquiry commission, led by the chief justice, to investigate the violent protests that erupted across the country on May 9 following the arrest of the PTI founder in a corruption case last year.
The KP CM said that that the decision regarding reconciliation with the establishment would be made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
Gandapur emphasized that both the establishment and institutions belong to them, but the ultimate decision on reconciliation rests with Khan, who remains the only prime minister to have been ousted through a no-confidence motion.
Asserting his firm stance against the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the outspoken PTI leader declared
He demanded accountability for those who had benefitted from the May 9 riots and emphasized that their incarcerated female workers should be released.
Addressing the recent incident of hooliganism and verbal abuse directed at a female lawmaker from his party during a KP Assembly session, Gandapur blamed PML-N lawmaker Sobia Shahid for playing the "woman card." Despite his belief that the woman was at fault, he stated that he apologized to her as the Chief Minister.
