The federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments have reached an agreement to engage in mutual consultations to address various issues between the Centre and the province, according to a report by The News on Monday.
This development followed a meeting in Islamabad between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Federal Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, and KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, held at the Ministry of Interior.
During their discussions, they acknowledged progress on addressing electricity loadshedding in KP and agreed to reconvene for further talks on Monday.
The meeting occurs against a backdrop of increasing tensions between the KP government and the federal authorities, with KP officials voicing concerns over dues owed by the federal government. Additionally, electricity loadshedding has been a contentious issue, with Chief Minister Gandapur threatening to take control of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) due to persistent power outages.
The situation escalated on Saturday when frustrated citizens in Peshawar stormed the Hazar Khawani grid station in protest against the continuous loadshedding amid scorching temperatures.
This interaction between KP’s Chief Minister and federal ministers follows a significant apex committee meeting of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), attended by Chief Minister Gandapur, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, and other senior officials.
Subsequent to the SIFC meeting, Chief Minister Gandapur visited Adiala Jail to meet the imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, Imran Khan. During this more than hour-long meeting, Gandapur briefed the former Prime Minister on his provincial government’s performance and the discussions held at the SIFC meeting.
