PESHAWAR - Engineer Shaukatullah Khan on Sunday took oath as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor. Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Justice Dost Muhammad Khan administered oath to him.
The oath ceremony, held at the Governor House lawn, was attended by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti, provincial assembly Speaker Karamatullah Khan and Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Khan Babar. Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir Akhtar read out the commission of appointment of the governor.
Talking to median persons soon after the oath, Governor Shaukatullah Khan said that his first priority would be establishment of durable peace and improvement in the law and order situation in KP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), and all available means will be utilised for the purpose.
Shaukatullah said that efforts would be made to resolve major problems through dialogue, adding that the tribesmen and their representatives would be taken on board on all important issues. He said the present government has already introduced positive reforms in (Frontier Crimes Regulation) FCR and that all decisions would be taken in the national interest.
The governor said the development process in Fata would be accelerated and efforts would be made to complete the ongoing projects on time. He said that he would try his level best to end the deprivation of the people of tribal areas and provide them facilities at par with other parts of the county because tribesmen are also as much the citizen of Pakistan as the others.
President Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, had appointed Engineer Shaukatullah Khan as the new governor of KP, replacing veteran Barrister Masood Kausar who is facing health problems.
Reply to a question, he said that he has no affiliation with any political party. He, however, congratulated tribal elders and political parties for their support. The governor will meet the general public and his well wishers today (Monday) from 1000 hours to 1400 hours. The Governor House will be open during the given time for all those desirous of meeting the new governor.
The prestigious oath administering ceremony was also attended by Federal Railways Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Provincial Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Excise and Taxation Minister Liaquat Shabab, senators Ghulam Ali and Haji Adeel, members of national and provincial assemblies and ministers, ex-parliamentarians, bureaucrats, civil officers, academicians, tribal elders and city dignitaries.
Shaukatullah Khan was elected as Member National Assembly form Bajaur Agency in 2008. He is among the youngest governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was serving as the federal minister for states and frontier region before he was made governor.
The new governor obtained an engineering degree from the University of Engineering and Technology Taxila in 1988 and started his political career from student politics. After completing education, he joined his father Bismillah Khan in politics, who had won National Assembly election in 1988 and 1993. His elder brother, Hidayatullah Khan, is a senator.