Sohail Afridi elected new CM of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawar: Sohail Afridi has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

After being elected as the Leader of the House, Sohail Afridi, while addressing the KP Assembly session, said, "I am grateful to the founder of PTI for electing a lowly worker whose neither brother, father nor uncle is in politics for this position. I did not become the Chief Minister by reference. I have reached here by working hard. I am a Pakistani first, then a Pakhtun, and a tribal. Having Zardari or Bhutto in name does not make someone a leader."

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session has begun under the chairmanship of Speaker Babar Saleem Swati. Addressing the session, Ali Amin Gandapur said that the day Imran Khan asked him to resign, he did so, following the instructions of his leader. The democratic process should not be made a mockery. We will not tolerate what has been happening.

Ali Amin Gandapur stated that everything we did in 19 months is on record. When we got the power, we had only 18 days' salary. Today, there is Rs218 billion in the provincial treasury. The opposition will complain to me that I did not give them funds, but the people are happy because I invested money in the people.

He added that the founder of PTI is sacrificing for us and for our generations. We stand firm with PTI.

Opposition boycotts assembly session

Opposition Leader KP Dr Ibadullah, while addressing, said that Ali Amin Gandapur's resignation has not been accepted yet. When one Chief Minister is in power, another cannot be elected.

Dr. Ibadullah said that the Governor has called Ali Amin Gandapur so that the ambiguity can be removed. Why are our friends in such a hurry? They have full numbers, so why are they making this matter controversial. This process is illegal, we will not be a part of this.

KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati said after the opposition leader's address that Ali Amin Gandapur sent his resignation to the governor twice and announced his resignation in the house today as well. Some people want Sohail Afridi not to become the Chief Minister, but the constitution cannot be based on the wishes of the people; they will act according to the constitution.

Babar Saleem Swati, while reading the ruling in this regard, said that the procedure for the new leader of the house will be as per the constitution, after which the name of the elected Chief Minister will be announced.

The Speaker of the KP Assembly explained the method of electing the new leader of the house, after which voting took place in the assembly, and then 90 MPAs elected Sohail Afridi as the new leader of the house.

Earlier, during the speech of the opposition leader, Ibadullah, when there was noise from the gallery of the assembly, Speaker Babar Saleem addressed the people present in the gallery, saying that if you people do not remain quiet, I will be forced to stop the proceedings of the session and throw you out.

The total number of members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly is 145, out of which 93 are government members and 52 are opposition members. 73 votes were required to be elected as the leader of the house.

Who is Sohail Afridi?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi belongs to Khyber district. He was elected as a member of the provincial assembly from Khyber district for the first time in the 2024 general elections.

Sohail Afridi was the president of the Insaf Students Federation KP for a long time.

Afridi was the special assistant to the chief minister for communication and works in the Ali Amin Gandapur government, but after the change in the provincial cabinet, he was made the minister for higher education.

Sohail Afridi is also a member of the central executive committee of PTI.