Muhammad Sohail Afridi elected KP CM while securing 90 votes despite opposition’s boycott over ‘unlawful’ process
PESHAWAR ( Web News )
Amid controversy surrounding outgoing chief minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur’s resignation, PTI’s Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Monday was elected as new chief executive of the province despite opposition’s boycott of the process.
Muhammad Sohail 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.
The assembly session, chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, was boycotted by the opposition members who staged a walk out with opposition leader Dr. Ibadullah Khan saying that they do not want to be part of any “unlawful” process.
The election of the new KP CM remains shrouded in controversy after Governor Faisal Karim Kundi rejected outgoing CM Ali Amin Gandapur resignation, citing objections over the signature’s authenticity.
Gandapur stepped down from the key office last week on the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan on October 8.
The nomination of Afridi, a young PTI leader who began his political career in 2015 and was elected as MPA in 2024 general elections, has prompted a strong reaction from the federal government, which has accused the PTI of having a soft corner for terrorists.
Speaking on the assembly floor, newly-elected CM Afridi lamented that “a mindset” mocked the tribal people when his name was nominated for the office of the CM.
“I did not become chief minister through a ‘parchi’ [chit]. I belong to a middle-class family from the tribal districts. Neither my father, nor my brother, nor my relatives are politicians,” Afridi said while thanking PTI founder Imran.
Noting that the tribal population was happy with the decision to nominate and elect him as KP’s CM, he said that a campaign was launched against him.
Lauding now outgoing CM Gandapur for gracefully stepping down from the office, Afridi touched upon the issue of PTI founder’s incarceration and remarked that he will start taking measures in this regard today.
“I am a champion of confrontational politics,” the newly-elected CM remarked, saying that he has “nothing to lose”.
“I have no cars, no bungalow, no money, no greed for a chair [of CM]. The day the leader says no chair, I will kick it.”
The young politician further warned that if the PTI founder was moved from Adiala jail without consulting his family and the party, they would paralyse the whole country in protest. “No one should think that I have come to this position and will deviate from [Imran’s] ideology,” he said.
Furthermore, reiterating the party’s stance on alleged rigging in the February 8, 2024 general elections, Afridi announced to initiate a probe into how their constituencies were stolen from them.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the legality of Gandapur’s resignation, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, in his ruling, termed the objections raised by Governor Kundi as “unconstitutional”.
The speaker said that Gandapur tendered his resignation under Clause 8 of Article 130 of the Constitution 1973.
“Gandapur sent two resignations to the governor on October 8 and then on October 11. Both resignations were signed by Gandapur, and there is no difference between the signature in the first and second resignation,” the speaker ruled.
Speaker Swati said that all the requirements for the resignation of Gandapur were in “accordance with the Constitution and law”, citing a court’s decision in the Hafiz Hamdullah case. “It is my responsibility to protect the Constitution and the law.”
He said that a few people do not wish to see Sohail Afridi becoming the chief minister, adding that constitutional affairs cannot be run on the “wishes of the people, but as per the constitution”