PM to decide on PTI demand linking funds contribution to jailed Imran meeting: FinMin

• KP has no issue “in principle” to release funds: Aurangzeb.
• KP to approve three-month budget paper: Salman Akram Raja.
• Raja says Constitution allows presentation of such budget.
  

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said that only Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could decide on PTI’s demand to allow a meeting with jailed party founder Imran Khan before contributing funds to the federal government.

Speaking on Truth Wire programme ‘Capital Talk’, the finance minister said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had no objection “in principle” to cutting development spending to release funds to the Centre.

Recalling a “very good meeting” with KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Adviser on Finance Muzammil Aslam, the finance minister said that all provinces, including KP, have significantly supported the Centre throughout the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

“As you know, the IMF programme is not just the federal government’s programme this time. Only the prime minister can decide on this demand,” he added.

The finance minister’s remarks come just hours after PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja said that the KP government would approve only a three-month budget paper if a meeting with the party founder does not take place before June 30.

Speaking to the media on Adiala Road, Raja said the final budget would not be presented until consultation with the former prime minister had taken place.

Khan has been jailed since August 2023 after convictions he and his PTI call politically motivated.

Since his 2022 ouster in a no-confidence vote, he has faced multiple cases, including over state gifts and an unlawful marriage. Some convictions have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the PTI secretary general said he had spoken with CM Afridi regarding the matter, adding that Article 125 of the Constitution allows the presentation of a budget for a three-month period.

“For the time being, this is what will happen and a three-month budget paper will be approved,” he said.