PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf’s (PTI) Pervez Khattak was sworn in as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday evening.
The Governor Shaukatullah administered the oath of office to the new KPK chief minister at the Governor’s House.
Pervez Khattak was earlier in the day elected as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Wajihuzzaman withdrew his nomination papers just before the division of the House in support of Maulana Lutfur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
Pervez Khattak who was a joint candidate of PTI and its allied parties bagged 84 votes while JUI-F’s Maulana Lutfur Rehman secured 37 votes.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly met on Friday with Speaker Asad Qaiser in chair to elect the province’s chief minister.
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) candidates Asad Qaisar and Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi earlier on Thursday were elected speaker and deputy speaker of the KP Assembly unopposed after the opposition parties withdrew from the contest.
PTI’s Pervez Khattak, JUI-F’s Maulana Lutfur Rehman and Wajihuzzaman of PML-N had filed nomination papers for the post of chief minister.
Earlier, PTI and its allies, including Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Qaumi Watan Party were trying to get the leader of the House elected by consensus.
However, JUI-F and PML-N were determined to contest for the coveted post.
On Thursday, PML-N leader Sardar Mehtab Abbasi told reporters in a statement that the opposition would not let PTI get its candidate elected unopposed, adding that three opposition parties, including JUI-F, PML-N and ANP, were likely to filed a joint candidate for the contest.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister-designate Pervez Khattak said the incoming government of PTI would bring result-oriented changes in education, health, power and revenue sectors to eliminate the difference between rich and poor.
DND
