Court directs additional advocate general to update it on the matter before 1pm today
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the additional advocate general to ascertain the availability of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi for administering the oath to the newly elected chief minister, Sohail Afridi.
The order came on the petition filed by the members of the provincial assembly, including the KP Assembly speaker, under Article 255 of the Constitution, seeking the immediate swearing-in of the new chief executive. The petition also urged the court to nominate an alternative authority, such as the speaker or another official, to administer the oath if the governor remained unavailable.
The court has instructed the additional advocate general to update it on the matter before 1pm today.
A written order from the previous hearing was also issued, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) has also approached the PHC, challenging the election process of the CM-elect.
JUI-F MPA Lutfur Rehman, who was contesting for the CM post before the party’s boycott, filed a petition and maintained that the election process was “illegal and unconstitutional.”
He cited that the circumstances surrounding the election, particularly referencing the resignation of former CM Ali Amin Gandapur, which was not accepted by Faisal Karim Kundi.
The JUI-f MPA pleaded the court to declare the election process that led to Afridi’s appointment as CM null and void.
The legal proceedings were initiated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) shortly after Sohail Afridi was elected KP CM a day earlier.
Afridi received 90 votes in the KP Assembly, with opposition parties boycotting the session. His rivals, including JUI-F’s Maulana Lutfur Rehman, PML-N’s Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf, and PPP’s Arbab Zarak Khan, secured no votes as their parties staged a walkout.
CM-elect Afridi replaces Ali Amin Gandapur, who resigned on October 8 under the directive of PTI founder Imran Khan. However, controversy ensued after KP Governor Kundi rejected Gandapur’s resignation, citing concerns over the authenticity of the signature. This has since cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the power transition.
PTI’s Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, speaking outside the court on Monday, criticised the governor for allegedly delaying the oath-taking ceremony. He asserted that the Constitution allows the chief justice to nominate an official to administer the oath in the governor’s absence and stressed that the province could not afford a governance vacuum.
Afridi, a relatively new figure in provincial politics who began his career in 2015 and was elected an MPA in the 2024 general elections, now faces significant political headwinds. His appointment has drawn criticism from the federal government, which has accused the PTI of harbouring sympathies towards extremist elements, allegations the party strongly denies.
