After much drama over the resignation and election of the provincial chief executive, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed lawmaker Sohail Khan Afridi has finally been sworn in as the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Afridi replaces his party colleague, Ali Amin Gandapur, as the provincial chief executive after the latter was ordered to step down amid reports of worsening law and order and governance issues. Afridi took oath of the office at the KP Governor House.
Governor Kundi, who had earlier rejected Gandapur’s resignation, was directed by the Peshawar High Court to administer the oath to the chief minister-elect at 4pm today. The court ruled that if he failed to do so, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati would perform the duty instead.
On October 13, PTI’s Afridi was elected as the new chief executive of the province despite the opposition’s boycott of the process.
Afridi secured 90 votes, whereas Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf, and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Arbab Zarak Khan got no votes at all as their members staged a walkout from the session.
Gandapur stepped down from the key office on the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan on October 8. The PTI founder and former prime minister nominated Afridi as the new chief minister of KP, replacing his firebrand party loyalist.
Afridi — a young PTI leader — hails from Bara tehsil of Khyber district and last held the portfolio of provincial minister for higher education. He is regarded among the party’s most ideological and grassroots-based workers, having been associated with PTI since his student years.
Earlier in the day, the PTI founder directed Afridi to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders in developing an effective and comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism in the province.
“I once again direct the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to engage with all stakeholders to formulate an effective and comprehensive strategy against terrorism so that lasting and effective peace can be established in the province, and as a result, the economy can be revived,” Imran said in his facilitating message to CM Afridi on X.
The jailed PTI founder said that the people of KP have given his party a mandate, adding that they will never go against the interests of the people of Pakistan and the province.
The former prime minister added that they are answerable to the people of KP, not to someone else.
Calling Afridi his “opening batsman”, the PTI founder directed the CM to “play with confidence”.
“I want to send a special message to Sohail Afridi that he is my opening batsman, and therefore, he should play with confidence.”
He congratulated all members of the KP assembly on the “successful and smooth completion” of the change in the government.
“The way the members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stood firm on their ideology and voted for my nominated Chief Minister [Sohail Afridi] without any hesitation is commendable,” Imran added.
The former premier also paid tribute to outgoing chief minister Gandapur for smoothly stepping down from his position on his directives. –Agencies
