KP Chief Minister Afridi Thanks Bilawal for Good Wishes During Sindh Tour

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari exchanged messages of political goodwill as Afridi toured Sindh to mobilize support for a PTI protest.

Afridi arrived in the province earlier in the week for a five-day visit. He has been campaigning for the PTI’s nationwide protest on Sept. 27, which calls for the release of party founder Imran Khan and his immediate medical treatment at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.

After Afridi visited Larkana, Bilawal welcomed him to the “city of martyrs” in a post on X. “Best wishes for the remainder of your tour across Sindh. We must ultimately return to a politics of tolerance, respect and coexistence, the foundation of any democracy,” Bilawal wrote.

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Best wishes for the remainder of your tour across Sindh. We must ultimately return to a politics of tolerance, respect and coexistence, the foundation of any democracy.

Afridi thanked him and described the “beauty of democracy” as including freedom of politics and expression, an independent judiciary, acceptance of the public mandate, an independent parliament and a free press. He also expressed hope that large crowds would attend PTI rallies in Karachi and Hyderabad, where he was due to travel.

The exchange comes as relations among Pakistan’s major parties shift. Bilawal said last month that a genuine alliance with the PML-N was not possible until grievances over alleged irregularities and rigging in recent elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir were addressed. Differences have also emerged over the creation of new provinces. The PPP has since established formal contact with the PTI and offered to cooperate with it in parliament, although the PPP remains the ruling PML-N’s main ally in the federal government while the PTI sits in opposition.

Afridi previously visited Sindh to mobilize support for a street movement. He initially praised the reception from the PPP-led provincial government and said the democratic legacy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto remained strong in the province. He later accused the Sindh government of failing to honor the ajrak and topi and criticized its treatment of his supporters as guests. Before a Karachi rally on Jan. 11, the PTI alleged that authorities had obstructed Afridi’s journey and used violence against party workers and supporters.

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The beauty of democracy is in freedom of politics and expression, independence of judiciary, acceptance of public mandate, an independent parliament and press being free.