By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: The governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province confirmed on Saturday that he had received the resignation of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, setting in motion a leadership change in the restive northwestern region that has been a stronghold for the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, in a post on the social media platform X, said his office had received Gandapur’s handwritten resignation, dated Oct. 11, at 2:30 p.m. “After thorough scrutiny and legal formalities as per the Constitution [and] relevant laws, subject resignation will be processed in due course of time,” Kundi wrote.
Gandapur, a firebrand leader of PTI, had stepped down from the post on Oct. 8, hours after party leaders announced the nomination of Sohail Afridi to succeed him. “In respectful compliance of the orders of my leader, and founding PTI chairman, Imran Khan, it is my honour to tender my resignation from the Office of the Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Gandapur wrote in a post on X at the time.
The resignation was delivered to the Governor House by Brigadier Muhammad Musaddiq Abbasi, a retired military officer who serves as special assistant to the chief minister on anti-corruption. Kundi had previously indicated that the resignation could be returned if any constitutional or legal ambiguity were found in it. Speaking to a privare television channel, Kundi said he would review the resignation once he received it, to determine the reasons behind Gandapur’s decision. “If there is any legal or constitutional ambiguity, the resignation can be returned,” he said.
But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s law minister, Aftab Alam, contended that the chief minister of a province can resign at any time in line with Article 130 of the Constitution. “The chief minister has tendered his resignation, and it is sufficient under the law,” Alam said. He described the governor’s response to Gandapur’s resignation as a mere formality, adding that he had directed the speaker of the provincial assembly to proceed with the process of electing a new chief minister. “We will wait a few hours or a day for the governor to accept the resignation. If it is not accepted, we will proceed with the KP Assembly session,” Alam said.
Addressing the media in Peshawar earlier on Saturday, Salman Akram Raja, the PTI secretary general, stated that Gandapur had submitted his resignation, adding that the governor’s approval was not necessary. “The governor has confirmed receiving the resignation. The chief minister is not a subordinate of the governor who would require his approval,” Raja said.
He said the provincial assembly would meet on Monday, Oct. 13, to elect Afridi as leader of the house. “This province [KP] will move forward with renewed energy. Sohail Afridi will become the first chief minister from the tribal areas.” The PTI leader termed the change in leadership a democratic and parliamentary process, saying that any party can opt to make changes in its government.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
