By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday dismissed reports that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan had demanded his resignation over the province’s worsening security situation, insisting he retains the full backing of the imprisoned former prime minister.
“I am here because the PTI founder has confidence in me,” Gandapur said in a statement. “This is his government, and his mandate.”
Private Geo News television channel reported that Khan privately suggested that Gandapur should resign if he cannot maintain order in the province. “If Ali Amin Gandapur cannot restore peace, he should step down,” Geo quoted Khan as saying, adding that “someone else should be given a chance” if governance falters.
The alleged remarks were quickly labeled baseless by Gandapur and his administration.
The KP chief minister’s spokesperson offered a similar defence, saying that the provincial government operates under Imran Khan’s vision. “Whenever the founder asks, the chief minister will step down,” Faraz Mughal, a spokesperson for the chief minister, said, adding that no credible evidence supports the notion that Khan has wavered in his support for Gandapur. “Gandapur has repeatedly said that the KP government is a trust handed to him by the PTI founder.”
The media-tailored controversy unfolds against a backdrop of heightened instability in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region long grappling with militancy and unrest. Earlier this week, security forces launched “Operation Sarbakaf” in Lowi Mamund tehsil, deploying gunship helicopters and artillery to root out terrorists. A three-day curfew followed, underscoring the severity of the threat. Just a day before Gandapur’s statement, Khan sent instructed the chief minister, asking him to block the federal government from conducting another military operation in the province or its tribal areas.
Yet Gandapur’s administration insists it’s tackling these challenges head-on. Spokesperson Mughal pointed to recent efforts to restore stability, including the launch of tribal jirgas, traditional gatherings of elders, to address terrorism at the regional level. “Gandapur is taking active steps to ensure law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Mughal said. Still, he expressed frustration over the chief minister’s inability to meet Khan in Adiala jail, despite court orders. “Constitutional and legal norms are not being followed.”
On Saturday, Gandapur convened the first in a series of jirgas to chart a path forward on issues ranging from security to development. A statement from the meeting outlined key recommendations: fostering unity against terrorism, rejecting displacement of residents amid military operations, and safeguarding the province’s resources. “Development is linked to peace, and it will accelerate when peace is restored,” the statement read. “No one has asked for any resources of the province, including minerals, nor has it been given to anyone, nor will it be given to anyone.”
Gandapur also dismissed reports that Khan might leave Pakistan under a deal. “If he (Imran) had to make a deal, he would have done so by now,” Yar Muhammad Niyazi, Gandapur’s focal person for digital media, quoted the chief minister as saying. “Imran Khan will never leave Pakistan.”
Niyazi’s statement also addressed the resignation rumors directly. “The assumptions that are being made that Imran Khan will go abroad are just an attempt to weaken the movement and damage Khan’s position,” it said. Gandapur, for his part, framed his tenure as an extension of Khan’s authority. “Imran Khan has made me the chief minister. His trust is with me,” he said. “Khan sahib has the government, he has the command, and we are all trying our best to deal with the challenges of the province effectively according to his vision.”
The timing of these developments carries added weight, as PTI prepares to launch a nationwide protest movement marking the second anniversary of Khan’s incarceration. The former prime minister, ousted in 2022, has been entangled in multiple legal cases, which his party deems politically motivated. Gandapur accused political opponents of stoking rumors to undermine both the KP government and PTI’s push for Khan’s release. “Along with our movement, there is also an administrative responsibility, which we are paying full attention to,” he said.
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