PESHAWAR - The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday elected Mahmood Khan as 22nd Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province through division of the house procedure.
The session was chaired by newly-elected Speaker KP Assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani. In the house of 110 present members, the supporters of joint opposition candidate Mian Nisar Gul were asked to move toward lobby-1 of the Assembly while those who supporting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Mahmood Khan were asked to move to lobby-2 of the assembly premises.
After division of the house, a head count was started in which Mahmood Khan secured 77 candidates votes while his rival candidate Mian Nisar Gul grabbed support of 33 candidates.
Mahmood Khan belongs to Tehsil Matta of Swat district. He got his early education from a government school in Khawaza Khaila. He completed his matriculation and FA from Peshawar Public School. He gets his master degree in agriculture.
He started his political career in 2005 and elected Nazim of Union Council Kharairi Tehsil Matta Swat. He joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf before general elections 2013. After winning general election in 2013, he remained minister for irrigation and later was assigned ministry of sports culture and tourism.
Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on this occasion thanked the Assembly members for taking part in the election process of chief minister and hoped that the opposition will demonstrate such order and discipline in the house for the future as well.
Addressing on the occasion, newly-elected Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan thanked the members for posing trust in him and said that he would continue to maintain supremacy of law, merit and transparency. He said that he would fulfill his promises which he had made during the election regarding the provision of health and education facilities.
He asked the opposition members to open the record of his constituency PK-09 if anyone has objection regarding alleged rigging in July 25 general elections. He said that people trust has been restored in national institutions after the transparent process of general election and on the basis of its previous performance Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was re-elected to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He maintained that the policy of merit and transparency would be the hallmark of PTI government and they would not compromise on merit and the rights of the minorities and women. He said that investment on human development is part of the PTI manifesto and in this government PTI would invest on humans to empower them economically. He vowed to complete the ongoing projects of Swat expressway and micro hydropower projects on priority basis.
He said that youth would be the focus of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and they would be provided job opportunities in various sectors and industries. He said that the merger of FATA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would also be a great challenge for the PTI government and through the support of their elected members and opposition major steps would be taken for the development of the tribal districts.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would get its due share in PSDP and NFC award as the party has government both in the centre and province. He said that he would take support from opposition to get common goals of development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the end, they raised slogan ‘Long live Pakistan’.
NADER BUNERI