PESHAWAR:
As many as four candidates have filed their nomination papers for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief ministerial elections to be held on Monday.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has fielded Sohail Afridi, while three opposition candidates – Maulana Lutfur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Sardar Shah Jehan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Arbab Zarak of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – have also entered the candidacy. career.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday to elect the new chief minister following the resignation of Sardar Ali Amin Gandapur. The nomination process concluded on Sunday.
Accompanied by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Vice President Surayya Bibi and other members of the government, Afridi submitted two sets of nomination papers to the assembly secretary.
On the opposition side, the three candidates jointly filed their nomination papers, accompanied by former prime minister Akram Khan Durrani and other opposition lawmakers. The deadline for submitting applications was set for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. After scrutiny by the Speaker, all four nomination papers were declared valid.
According to assembly sources, candidates will be able to withdraw their candidatures before the start of the session on Monday. Opposition sources indicated that Maulana Lutfur Rehman could emerge as a joint opposition candidate, although Sardar Shah Jehan’s name is also being considered.
Opposition parties are expected to finalize their joint candidate at a meeting before the session.
Who are the main contenders for the KP CM post?
PTI candidate for KP prime minister Sohail Afridi began his political journey in 2007 as a member of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), the student wing of the party. He has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Peshawar.
Afridi also served as provincial higher education minister in outgoing CM Gandapur’s cabinet and was elected Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from PK-70, Khyber district, in the February 8 general elections.
He belongs to the Shalobar Qambar Khel tribe of Khyber district and is known within the PTI as a young leader with strong connections and influence in the party.
Throughout his political career, Afridi has held several key positions within the PTI. As a student, he was among the founding members of the ISF and in 2012, he was elected president of the Peshawar ISF district. Two years later, in 2014, he became the president of ISF Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Afridi completed his BA (Honours) in Economics from the University of Peshawar in 2012 and started his Master’s in Economics in 2014. However, he could not complete the degree due to his active participation in the PTI’s 126-day sit-in in Islamabad. He later successfully completed his studies and defended his thesis.
Steadily rising through the PTI youth ranks, Afridi was elected president of Insaf youth wing for Peshawar region in 2019, and later president of Insaf Khyber Pakhtunkhwa youth wing in 2022, a position he still holds.
Maulana Lutfur Rehman is the brother of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He served as leader of the opposition in the previous Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
Although the opposition parties have jointly filed nomination papers for three candidates, Lutfur Rehman appears to be the strongest contender while the other two candidates are likely to withdraw from the race before the start of the assembly session.
Last position of the party in the KP Assembly
The KP Assembly consists of 145 members, while the composition shows a clear predominance of PTI-backed independent members, positioning the party to win the house leader’s position with ease.
According to the latest figures, 92 independent members, aligned with the PTI, constitute the largest bloc in the assembly. Among political parties, JUI-F and PML-N have 18 seats each.
The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians has 10 members, while the Awami National Party has four seats. The Pakistan Parliamentarians Tehreek-e-Insaf, a splinter group, holds three seats.
