Spike in corona cases: KP govt invites PDM leaders for talks to postpone 22nd rally

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday decided to contact the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders to convince them of postponing the public meeting scheduled for November 22 in Peshawar due to the spike in coronavirus cases.

An official communique said Chief Minister Mahmood Khan constituted a committee of the cabinet members, which would meet the opposition parties for the purpose. The members of the cabinet committee include Taimur Salim Jhagra (Finance & Health), Kamran Bangash (Information & Higher Education), Shaukat Yousafzai (Culture and Labour), Akbar Ayoub (Local Government & Rural Development) and Sultan Muhammad Khan (Law & Parliamentary Affairs).

The committee members invited the opposition leaders to a meeting at the Assembly Secretariat at 4 pm today (Wednesday). Those extended invitation were Sardar Muhammad Yousaf of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Muhammad Akram Khan Durrani and Maulana Lutfur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami, Sardar Hussain Babak of Awami National Party and Sher Azam Wazir of Pakistan People’s Party. The cabinet members, who will meet the opposition members, said nobody could be forced into not holding the public meetings but hastened to add that this was not the proper time to arrange gatherings keeping in view the Covid-19 second wave.

They said we had a tradition to resolve issues through talks and hoped the opposition parties would express seriousness about the issue.