Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government spokesman Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Tuesday claimed Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will forward a summary for the assembly’s dissolution to Governor Haji Ghulam Ali before midnight.
“A summary will be sent to the governor for dissolution of the assembly today,” he said during a press conference from Peshawar, adding that it would happen before the day’s end. Earlier, addressing the 86th—and potentially final—meeting of his cabinet, the chief minister thanked both opposition and government lawmakers and the provincial bureaucracy for working with him over the past four years. “I thank the public of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for posing their trust in me,” he said, reiterating claims that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would return to power with a two-thirds majority.
Claiming that the prevailing instability in the country was due to the policies of the incumbent government, he claimed ousting the present leadership was essential for the country.
The matter of the KP Assembly’s dissolution has been awaited since last week, when Parvez Elahi dissolved the Punjab Assembly. Even though the PTI had initially claimed it would dissolve the KP Assembly over the weekend, it has delayed the commencement of the process, prompting rumors that there some PTI leaders are not satisfied with the decision. Lending credence to this are local media reports that PTI leader Pervaiz Khattak recommended to Imran Khan that the assembly should not be dissolved at this stage, as it would mean elections occur during Ramzan, which could result is a lower turnout.
However, addressing the press conference alongside Saif, KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Shahram Khan Tarakai claimed no one had opposed the dissolution of the assembly.
Meanwhile, echoing remarks from the opposition in Punjab, Leader of Opposition in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Akram Khan Durrani alleged to media that the chief minister had urged him to file a no-confidence motion against him to delay the dissolution of the assembly. However, he maintained, he would not do so and supported the end of this government.