PESHAWAR: Sohail Afridi officially took oath as the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a ceremony held at the Governor House, where the Governor administered the swearing-in.
Afridi was elected as the new KP Chief Minister two days prior during a session of the provincial assembly, chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem, securing support from 90 assembly members.
However, his election faced a legal challenge when JUI-F leader and MPA Maulana Lutf-ur-Rehman filed a petition contesting its validity. The petitioner argued that since former Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation had not yet been accepted, Afridi’s election was unconstitutional. He called for the court to declare the election null and void, emphasizing that a new chief minister could not be elected without the previous resignation being approved.
Yesterday, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) reserved its verdict on a constitutional petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), under Article 255, questioning the delay in the oath-taking process for the new KP Chief Minister. Chief Justice SM Atiq Shah ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to administer the oath to Sohail Afridi by 4 pm the following day.
Throughout the hearing, the court scrutinized the governor’s stance on the delay, raising questions about the legal and procedural aspects of the oath-taking process.
