PESHAWAR: Following the conclusion of voting in the KP Assembly on Friday, Ali Amin Gandapur, a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who ran as an independent candidate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the most recent elections, was named the province’s next chief minister. Polling for the KP chief minister started earlier today, with Dr. Ibadullah Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and PTI’s Gandapur running for the top provincial position.
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Gandapur was the PTI’s founder Imran Khan’s party’s nominee for KP’s leader of the house. It seems very likely that he would secure the slot given the numbers. Members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) backed Gandapur, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) backed Dr. Ibadullah.
After declining to join the SIC, the party that independent winners sponsored by the PTI joined to win their seats, the former federal minister made the decision to run for the top provincial position on an independent basis. From October 2018 to April 2022, Gandapur held the position of federal minister for Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan in the PTI government at the Center.
Prior to that, from 2013 to 2018, he was a member of the KP Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial minister of revenue. The CM-designate graduated with honors from Dera Ismail Khan’s Gomal University.
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Ibadullah Khan, his opponent, served as a National Assembly member from August 2018 until August 2023. From April 2019 to August 2023, he served as the NA’s Standing Committee on Communications chairman.
The newly elected legislators took the oath of office on Wednesday at the KP Assembly’s inaugural session. The provincial legislature chose Suriya Bibi and Babar Saleem Swati, who were supported by the PTI, to be speaker and deputy speaker one day after the oath was taken. Suriya secured 87 votes, while Swati secured 89 votes to secure the highly sought-after positions.
