PESHAWAR -  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s newly-elected chief minister, Pervez Khattak of PTI, took oath of his office as the 16th chief executive of the province on Friday evening.
KPK Governor Shaukat Ullah administered him the oath at the governor’s house at a ceremony which was attended by members of the provincial assembly, QWP Chairman Aftab Sherpao, KPK Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, PPP's Anwar Saifullah Khan, PTI’s Jehangir Tareen, Azam Swati and others.
After the oath ceremony, the governor congratulated the chief minister. Later, Governor Shaukat Ullah also administered oath to JI MPA Sirajul Haq and QWP’s Sikandar Sheprao as senior provincial ministers. Their portfolios will be announced in a couple of days.
Khattak was elected as the KPK chief minister by bagging 84 votes in the electoral college of 122. Two ex-chief ministers, Amir Haider Khan Hoti of ANP and Akram Khan Durrani of JUI-F, were not present in the house.
JUI-F and PML-N had nominated Maulana Lutfur Rehman and Wajih-uz-Zamman, respectively, for the chief minister’s slot. But, the latter withdrew his papers in favour of the former. JUI-F’s Lutfur Rehman secured 37 votes – JUI-F’s 16, PML-N’s 17and four votes of ANP.
PTI’s Pervez Khattak not only obtained votes of his coalition partners, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami Jamhoori Ittehad (AJI) and independent groups, but also four votes of PPP and one vote of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML). Speaker Asad Qaiser announced the results and declared Pervez Khattak as the leader of the house.
Congratulating Pervez Khattak, the parliamentary leaders of all the political parties, including PMl-N’s Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sirajul Haq, JUI-F's Maulana Lutf-ur-Rehman, QWP’s Sikandar Sherpao, ANP’s Sardar Hussain Babak, PPP’s Salim Khan and Shahram Tarakai congratulated Pevez Khattak and offered full support to him.
On this occasion, Sardar Mehtab Khan said democracy was not given a chance to flourish during the last 65 years, but now the people voted for PTI for a change. His party, he said, accepted its mandate and would support positive moves and oppose negative ones. He called for equal distribution of resources to remove sense of deprivation among the dwellers of the backward areas.
JI’s Sirajul Haq said they would ensure rule of law and merit in KPK. “There are numerous challenges, but we will counter them with the consultation of opposition,” he asserted. JUI-F’s Lutfur Rehman said the recent drone attack had sabotaged the negotiation process started in the wake of JUI-F-sponsored jirga while Taliban had threatened to take revenge. Though the issue of drone attacks was related to the federal government, but they were affecting the people of the province.
ANP’s Sardar Hussain Babak expressed the hope that the PTI government would continue the projects initiated by the previous government. He also hoped the new government would frame strategy to block the way of drone attacks as claimed by PTI during its election campaign.
QWP’s Sikandar Sherpao expressed concern over genocide of Pakhtuns, urging the leaders to take collective decisions to face these challenges and stop killings of Pakhtuns.
PPP’s Salim Khan and AJIP Chief Shahram Khan Tarakai also expressed the hope that the new government would take all the decisions based on justice and merit, besides bringing a change.
Pervez Khattak is the 16th chief minister of the province. Muslim League’s Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan and Sardar Bahadur Khan were elected chief executives of the province. JUI’s Maulana Mufti Mahmood served as CM from May 1972 to February 1973. PPP’s Sardar Inayatullah Khan Gandapur, Nasrullah Khan Khattak, Muhammad Iqbal Khan Jadoon, Arbab Jahangir Khan and Aftab Khan Sherpao remained chief executives of the province. Islami Jamhori Ittehad’s Mir Afzal Khan also served the province as chief minister. PML-N’s Pir Sabir Shah, PPP’s Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao were two-time CMs of the province. Again PML-N’s Mehtab Ahmad Khan, MMA’s Akram Khan Durrani and ANP’s Amir Haider Khan Hoti served as CMs of the province. In addition, five caretaker CMs also ruled KPK.