Faisla Sheikh
ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday clarified his statement about the NA-18 by-election, which had prompted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to request the army’s deployment.
The ECP sought the deployment of army and civil armed forces for the by-polls, over what it called CM Afridi’s “threats” and use of “provocative language” against public officials.
However, the KP chief minister — speaking to journalists outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi — said that his remarks during a political gathering speech at Chamba on Wednesday had been “taken out of context”.
“I was not campaigning for anybody. I said yesterday that there should be no rigging,” he added.
CM Afridi also pointed out that authorities had repeatedly refused to allow him to meet Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
The PTI leader said that he had been refused the meeting for the seventh time since his election as the chief minister, despite his requests to the federal government and the provincial government of Punjab.
“Not only are we denied access to Imran Khan, but his sisters were also manhandled and injured by the authorities,” he added.
