CM Afridi announces pen-down strike on May 6 over Centre’s ‘discrimination’ against KP
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Tuesday announced a province-wide pen-down strike tomorrow (May 6) over the federal government’s alleged “discrimination” against KP.
In a statement, CM Afridi contended that the Centre was discriminating against KP because the province has a government led by former premier Imran Khan’s PTI.
“The federal government is deliberately discriminating against the province in the NFC (National Finance Commission) Award, electricity and gas,” the chief minister claimed.
Since becoming the provincial chief executive in October 2025, Afridi has repeatedly accused the federal government of stalling the release of funds allocated for KP, particularly those committed for the merged districts under the NFC Award.
In his announcement, the KP CM said that emergency services would be exempt from the pen-down strike. He urged all lawyers “who uphold the Constitution and the law” to participate in the strike.
He also lamented that Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi were not being allowed to be treated by their personal doctors.
“Not allowing Imran Khan to meet his family and lawyers is inhumane and illegal,” Afridi asserted.
In January, CM Afridi had written a letter to PM Shehbaz over what he dubbed the Centre’s “persistent failure” to release “constitutionally guaranteed” funds, demanding the “full and unconditional” release of all outstanding federal dues.
Days later, he met with the prime minister and emphasised the need for cooperation between the Centre and the KP government while discussing provinces’ due shares.
On March 26, the KP government walked out of the NFC subgroup meeting on merged areas after the other three provinces refused to include the region’s population in the new resource distribution formula, which could have increased KP’s share from the existing 14.62 per cent to 18.96pc.
KP also requested the federal government to revise the NFC resource distribution formula.
Subsequently, on March 31, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb assured his “full support” to Afridi for the “resolution of all legitimate issues” as the two met in Islamabad.
Late last month, supporting the KP government’s stance on the issue, the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) urged the Centre to give the province, including the merged districts, its due share under the NFC Award.
