Governor Kundi swears in Sohail Afridi as new KP CM

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday administered oath to newly elected Chief Minister Sohail Afridi at the Governor House, ending the tense political standoff and days of uncertainty in the province.

Prominent political and administrative figures including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Vice President Suraiya Bibi, former Governor Shah Farman, Senators, MNAs and MPAs, PTI Provincial President Junaid Akbar and party Central General Secretary Salman Akram Raja witnessed the oath-taking.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed, Peshawar Commissioner and heads of various provincial departments along with several political and social figures were also in attendance.

After the ceremony, Governor Kundi congratulated the new CM on assuming office and extended his best wishes for the tenure ahead.

The event, however, descended into chaos as party workers rushed to the stage to express their good wishes to the new CM and chanted slogans that disrupted the further proceedings.

Afridi’s appointment as CM followed the directives of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan. According to party sources, Khan’s instructions regarding Afridi’s oath-taking and cabinet formation were conveyed to the PTI parliamentary party in KP.

Read more: PTI’s Sohail Afridi elected new KP CM

Sources said the new prime minister has been given full authority to choose his cabinet from the party’s elected representatives. Consultations between Afridi and central leaders have already begun, with some ministers expected to retain their portfolios, including provincial finance adviser Muzzammil Aslam.

Earlier in the day, a PTI delegation, led by the party’s central general secretary Salman Akram Raja, called on Governor Kundi at the Governor House. The delegation included President Babar Saleem Swati, former Governor Shah Farman Khan, PTI Punjab leader Shaukat Basra, Provincial President Junaid Akbar Khan, MNAs Mehboob Shah, Atif Khan, Shahram Khan Tarakai and other senior leaders.

Former Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation triggered a legal row after Governor Kundi refused to accept it, citing discrepancies in signatures in two separate resignation letters submitted on October 8 and 11. The governor returned both letters and summoned Gandapur on October 15 for clarification.

Also read: PHC orders KP governor to administer Sohail Afridi’s oath tomorrow

In a public statement about X, the governor said, the resignation had been returned with objections and he published an official letter highlighting the discrepancy in the signatures. Gandapur, meanwhile, insisted that both letters bore his genuine signature.

Amid the controversy, the provincial assembly met on October 13 under the chairmanship of Babar Saleem Swati to elect a new House leader. Afridi, the PTI candidate, secured 90 votes to become the province’s 30th chief minister.

Governor Kundi had declared the elections unconstitutional, maintaining that no new prime minister could be elected until the resignation of the incumbent governor was officially accepted. The PTI subsequently approached the Peshawar High Court, which ruled in favor of Afridi and ordered the governor to take oath by 4 pm on October 15.

The court further mentioned that if the governor failed to comply, the Speaker of the Assembly would be authorized to administer the oath.

Governor Kundi, who was in Karachi at the time, rushed to Peshawar and followed court orders in administering oath to Afridi.