PESHAWAR  -  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister’s recent disparaging remarks directed at journalists and women, along with attempts to exert undue pressure on the state institutions including judiciary, have been met with broad condemnation across the province.

The unjustified and provocative remarks made by KP CM during a public meeting in Islamabad were described as “irrational” by politicians and civil society and demanded of Gandapur tender unconditional apology over his tirade against media professionals and CM Punjab.

Ikhtiar Wali Khan, the Information Secretary for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in KP criticised Gandapur’s attack on the media, emphasising that the press had played a crucial role in promoting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s popularity during the 2018 general elections when other political parties were completely sidelined, paving the way for PTI founder to get majority and became the prime minister of Pakistan.

Declaring the PTI’s Islamabad rally as a complete failure, the PML-N leader strongly condemned Gandapur’s illogical statement pertaining to forceful release of the PTI founder, adding such premature and provocative statements was aimed to place undue pressure on state institutions, including the judiciary.

He urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of Gandapur’s derogatory remarks, highlighting PTI’s pattern of pressuring institutions when favourable judgments are not secured.

The PML-N leader stressed that legal proceedings cannot be influenced through public rallies or agitation. Instead, he argued that PTI leadership should present concrete evidence in court in PTI founder’s corruption cases.

He also accused the KP government of neglecting pressing issues like terrorism and law and order in the southern and merged districts of KP, citing recent attacks in Mohmand and South Waziristan.

Criticism also extended to KP CM’s performance, with allegations of corruption against a provincial minister and financial losses at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which reportedly incurs an annual loss of Rs3.2 billion. He argued that the PTI leadership’s anti-corruption claims had been undermined by ongoing investigations into projects such as the billion trees’ initiative. Former provincial minister Wajid Ali Khan also condemned Gandapur’s comments as an attempt to replace judicial processes with public pressure tactics and agitation politics.

Wajid argued that such rhetoric detracts from addressing critical issues like inflation, environmental pollution, and inadequate support for the rain victims in KP.

He said that thousands of rains victims were looking towards KP government’s help in rebuilding of their houses as winter was approaching fast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also criticised the previous PTI government for failing to improve the education and healthcare sectors and for the problematic execution of the BRT project in Peshawar that plunged the walled city into traffic jam.

Political experts have voiced concerns about the potential impact of political instability on Pakistan’s economy and democratic processes. Prof Dr A H Hilali, former Chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Peshawar, warned against the recurrence of political turmoil, emphasising the need for political unity and stability to address the country’s pressing challenges.

He lamented the historical pattern of political wrangling derailing democracy in Pakistan and stressed the importance of a stable political environment for the country’s prosperity and adherence to the rule of law.

The recent remarks by CM KP Gandapur have ignited a significant backlash, drawing attention to the broader implications for governance, democratic norms, and institutional integrity.

The experts said that a grand dialogue was imperative among all political parties to take the country out of existing economic and political challenges and put it on roads to progress and prosperity.