Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sohail Afridi was on Monday elected the new chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as opposition parties boycotted the proceedings over the “unlawful” process.
On Sunday, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi returned two separate letters of resignations submitted by former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, claiming they had “disparate signatures.” He “advised” Gandapur to meet him at Governor House on Oct. 15 to resolve the situation. The decision had raised questions over the KP Assembly session scheduled for today (Oct. 13) to elect the new chief minister, as the PTI maintained the governor was exceeding his authority in seeking to reject the resignation.
Despite the confusion, the provincial assembly session proceeded as scheduled. At the outset, Gandapur took the floor of the House, and reiterated he had tendered his resignation on directions of PTI founder Imran Khan. He was followed by Leader of the Opposition Ibadullah, who argued that the Constitution required the acceptance of a resignation before the conduct of fresh elections.
“In the presence of an existing chief minister, the election of a new chief minister is unconstitutional. So we will not become a part of this unconstitutional procedure,” he said and questioned the need for haste when the PTI had sufficient numbers to ensure a “lawful” process. Maintaining the opposition would not participate in an “unconstitutional,” he announced a walkout, with all opposition lawmakers exiting the assembly.
After the walkout, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati said Gandapur had sent his resignation to the governor twice and had announced the same in his speech. “The point raised by the opposition leader, I give a ruling of the speaker to make it clear what the Constitution says: this is unconstitutional and in contravention of the law,” he said, adding that while some people might not wish to see Afridi as chief minister, the Constitution did not function according to their wishes.
“The chief minister of a province is a constitutional office holder in terms of Article 130. Clause eight of this article provides for tendering of resignation by the chief minister under his hand … I rule that an election for the post of chief minister of KP is being lawfully conducted in accordance with the Constitution and the rules of the assembly,” he said and proceeded with the polling process.
After the completion of voting, Swati announced Sohail Afridi, MPA from PK-70, had secured 90 votes, becoming the new chief minister-designate of the province. He will formally assume office after his oath-taking.
In his inaugural address, Afridi thanked Imran Khan for placing his confidence in a party worker to assume the slot of chief executive of the province. He also thanked lawmakers for voting for him and the PTI’s social media supporters for backing the party. He vowed to take steps and measures to secure the release of Imran Khan and Bushra, adding he would go “further” than had been done prior.
“I am the champion of the politics of agitation,” he said, maintaining he had nothing to lose. “Whenever my leader [Khan] tells me to, I will kick this seat,” he said, referring to the chief minister’s slot. “No one should believe that just because I have reached this position … I will deviate from my aim and purpose.”
He warned that the PTI would block “all of Pakistan” if Khan were shifted elsewhere “without consultation of his party and his family.” He vowed there would be “no military operation” in KP during his tenure in line with the vision of Imran Khan. He said he would seek answers from the federal government on the inclusion of several KP individuals in the Fourth Schedule, and the method under which they were declared “terrorists.”