Oath-taking of KP CM-elect should not be delayed beyond tomorrow, warns PTI

• PTI urges PHC chief justice to nominate anyone to administer oath.
• KP Governor Kundi rejects outgoing CM Gandapur resignation.
• PHC seeks report from attorney general; adjourns hearing till tomorrow.
  

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Monday warned that the oath-taking of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister-elect Sohail Afridi should not be delayed beyond October 14 (tomorrow).

The PTI secretary general made the remarks when he, along with other PTI leaders, arrived at the Peshawar High Court to submit a petition seeking the oath-taking of the newly elected KP CM.

PTI's Afridi, earlier in the day, was elected as the new chief executive of the province despite the opposition's boycott of the process. He will replace Ali Amin Gandapur as the KP chief minister.

The election of the new KP CM remains shrouded in controversy after Governor Faisal Karim Kundi rejected outgoing CM Gandapur's resignation, citing objections over the signature's authenticity.

Gandapur stepped down from the key office last week on the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan on October 8.

Talking to journalists outside the Peshawar High Court, Raja said, “It is necessary to administer the oath to the KP CM-elect. Taking the oath cannot be delayed.”

He said that KP Governor Kundi should have been in the province to administer the oath to the new chief executive.   

“Under the constitution, the chief justice can nominate anyone to administer the oath,” he added.

The PTI leader further said that they would request the PHC chief justice to administer the oath today, saying that the province cannot function without a government.

At the outset of today’s hearing, the PTI leader said they had apprised the governor that the oath-taking ceremony of the KP CM would be held on October 13, but the governor, on October 12, had raised strange objections over the resignation of the outgoing chief minister.

He alleged that the KP governor deliberately tried to delay the oath of the new KP CM.

Meanwhile, the court sought a report from the attorney general in this regard and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.

During the voting in the KP assembly earlier today, Afridi secured 90 votes, whereas Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl's (JUI-F) Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf and Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) Arbab Zarak Khan got no votes at all as their members staged a walkout from the session.

The nomination of Afridi, a young PTI leader who began his political career in 2015 and was elected as an MPA in the 2024 general elections, has prompted a strong reaction from the federal government, which has accused the PTI of having a soft corner for terrorists.