Why did Amin Gandapur refuse to attend Shehbaz Sharif's oath-taking ceremony?

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) hawkish Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Monday skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held at the President House.

Imran Khan’s loyalist refused to attend the function, saying he is not a Form 45 holder, so he will not participate in his swearing-in ceremony.

Talking to the media ahead of the oath-taking, Gandapur said that he will not participate in the PM’s swearing-in ceremony.

He said that the prime minister is not the one with Form 45 and was selected by returning officers (RO). The chief minister said that it is not right to go for oath-taking.

While Gandapur skipped the function in line with his party’s stance of “rigging” in the Feb 8 polls, President Arif Alvi — a die-hard Imran Khan follower — administered the oath to Shehbaz Sharif, who was elected to the country's top office for the second time.

The swearing-in ceremony, held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, was attended by outgoing caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and his cabinet members, parliamentarians, chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee, services chiefs, governors, chief ministers and diplomats.

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, President of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, other political leaders including Hamza Shehbaz, Aleem Khan, Raja Zafarul Haq, Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and senior officers also attended the ceremony.