Manzoor Afridi to become interim CM of KP

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and opposition have agreed upon a name for the caretaker chief minister for the province.

According to sources, the appointment of Manzoor Afridi as the caretaker chief minister was suggested by the KP government.

KP CM Pervez Khattak and Leader of the Opposition in KP Assembly Maulana Lutfur-Rehman met to decide the name. 

Later, in the day, Afridi met with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan. CM Pervaiz Khattak was also present in the meeting, said a declaration issued by the party. 

The party chairman congratulated Afridi for being nominated for the position and said that PTI aims for a transparent election.  

Imran said that the designated-CM should work for conducting transparent elections without taking into account any pressure from any party.

Manzoor hails from Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, who belongs to a family of businesspersons and is a non-political figure. He is the younger brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senator Ayub Afridi and uncle of Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi.

This is the second time that the KP government and opposition have reached consensus on recommendations for the caretaker chief minister.

In 2013, Amir Haider Hoti and the then opposition leader, Akram Khan Durrani, had agreed on appointing Justice (retd) Tariq Pervez as the interim chief minister. 

Tariq Pervez had served as the judge of Supreme Court and chief justice of the Peshawar High Court.

Back then, in 2013, his nomination was challenged in the Peshawar High Court hours before he took oath. The petition was submitted by senior lawyer Mohibullah Kakakhel, who argued that Tariq Pervez could not take oath because the Constitution did not allow a Supreme Court judge to hold government office until two years after her/his retirement.

He had retired from the Supreme Court earlier that year.

The petitioner had said that the nomination of Tariq Pervez would adversely affect the fairness of general elections 2013.