Federal Minister for Frontier Affairs Amir Muqam announced on Thursday that the federal government would take part in the upcoming peace jirga called by the PTI.
The announcement was made as Muqam held a joint press conference alongside PTI stalwart Asad Qaiser in Islamabad.
Earlier this week, the PTI decided to convene a peace jirga in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (KPA) on November 12 to discuss the volatile law and order situation in the province.
“We have conveyed our requests to the federal government and are grateful that they accepted our invitation,” Qaiser said while jointly addressing reporters after the meeting.
“We have come together and we know what policy we want. Whatever it is, the province’s people and leadership need to come together to create a concerted plan of action,” he added.
In response to a question, Muqam said that the PTI presented “the reason why we are here” and that the government accepted it.
“They said they wanted peace and that we are all one,” he added.
Meanwhile, Qaiser wrote a post on X announcing that a delegation he led also met with National Awami Party Chairman Aftab Sherpao today.
“The delegation invited Aftab Ahmad Sherpao to attend the peace jirga organised by the KP provincial government on November 12,” he wrote.
In another post, Qaiser wrote that Sherpao was an “important leader of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has also served as chief minister”.
“We desire that he inform the provincial government of his views and experiences. Peace and security are our common issues, which transcend politics,” Qaiser wrote.
ANP to hold ‘consultations’ before accepting jirga invitation
President of the ANP’s KP chapter, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said that he will hold consultations and then inform the PTI and the press about accepting the invitation to the peace jirga.
He made these remarks at a joint press conference flanked by PTI leader and Adviser to the KP chief minister, Shafiullah Jan.
“The jirga we held was successful and we formed an organising committee with all political parties,” he said in response to a question. “To look after it, we implemented a procedure.
“When we called an All-Parties Conference, we made a decision, and the ANP called another conference in Islamabad,” he added. “After the floods, we decided to suspend that decision under the situation improved.”
Hussain said that there has been no contact with some parties, adding that ANP President Aimal Wali Khan told KP CM Afridi that the party would only make a decision after consultations.
“We are grateful for their (the PTI) invitation and we will reply once we have had consultations,” he stated. “You will find out who is going [to the jirga].”
The PTI’s KP Secretary General, Ali Asghar Khan, took the floor and said that the previous jirga was called by the chief minister, and the party had reservations about being part of a jirga with the federal government.
“This time, the jirga has been called by the [KP] speaker,” he stated. “He formed a committee and will hold meetings with parliamentarians from all parties. He has done so because we, as a party, have come to extend the speaker’s invitation and to ask that you positively respond.”
