Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Sunday “rejected” the resignation of outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, claiming “disparate signatures” between the two separate letters submitted and seeking a meeting on Oct. 15 (Wednesday) to resolve the matter.
The late night announcement followed a commitment by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to elect the new chief minister in a session of the KP Assembly on Monday morning.
Kundi, in a post on X, said the chief minister’s resignation had been “returned with observation.” Confirming that the Governor’s House had received both of Gandapur’s resignation letters, he claimed they had “disparate and unalike signatures.” Claiming he was out of the city until Oct. 15, he “advised” the PTI leader to visit Governor House on Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. to settle the authenticity of resignations.
In a response to Kundi on X, Gandapur maintained his signatures were authentic.
Gandapur submitted his initial resignation letter on Oct. 8 after PTI founder Imran Khan directed him to step down. Khan also nominated Sohail Afridi as the new chief minister of the province. However, the Governor’s House said it had not received the typed letter, leading to Gandapur submitting a handwritten version on Oct. 11. “After thorough scrutiny and legal formalities as per the Constitution [and] relevant laws, subject resignation will be processed in due course of time,” Kundi said at the time, confirming the receipt of the letter.
Ahead of the KP Assembly session, four candidates filed their nomination papers with the speaker. From the PTI, the nominee is Sohail Afridi, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) has fielded Maulana Lutfur Rehman, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has nominated Sardar Shah Jehan Yousaf, and the Pakistan Peoples Party has fielded Arbab Zarak Khan.
Amidst the confusion over the resignation letter, Leader of the Opposition Ibadullah has questioned how an election can proceed, arguing it would result in there being two chief ministers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The resignation tendered by the incumbent chief minister has not yet been approved by the governor, while PTI is proceeding to elect another chief minister,” he said, lamenting these were “politically inexperienced people.”
JUIF’s Rehman, similarly, said the PTI was conducting the election in undue haste.