PESHAWAR; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath of office to PTI MPA Sohail Afridi as the province’s new chief minister on Wednesday. During the ceremony, Afridi held up a portrait of PTI founder Imran Khan.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser congratulated Afridi in a post on X, expressing hope that the new chief minister would address provincial issues, work for public welfare, and play a role in securing the release of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Afridi’s oath-taking followed a Peshawar High Court (PHC) directive ordering the governor to administer the oath by 4 pm Wednesday, or else the provincial assembly speaker would do so under Article 255(2) of the Constitution.
Afridi had been elected as the new KP chief executive on Monday during a stormy assembly session marked by an opposition walkout and confusion over outgoing CM Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation. Gandapur’s two resignation letters were returned to the governor due to “disparate signatures”.
The PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also urged the governor to fulfil his constitutional duty and administer the oath as directed by the court.
PTI maintained that a chief minister’s resignation did not require the governor’s approval under the Constitution. The party moved the PHC to ensure Afridi’s oath-taking after the opposition boycotted the session.
