Governor administers oath to PTI's Sohail Afridi as Pakistan's KP chief minister
- Last updated: October 15, 2025 | 17:53
As directed by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday administered the oath to Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) member of the provincial assembly Sohail Afridi as the chief minister.
A number of PTI activists and leaders had thronged the governor’s house for the ceremony and changed slogans, projecting their cause. Most of them were recording the ceremony on their mobile phones. All of them were highly charged.
Afridi also held up a portrait of jailed PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan during the event at the ceremony.
Kundi had specially flown to Peshawar from Karachi to administer the oath after the PHC issued the direction.
Afridi was elected the new KP chief executive on Monday during an assembly session marred by the opposition’s walkout and amid the prevailing uncertainty regarding the resignation of outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Declaring Afridi’s election constitutional, PHC Chief Justice S.M. Attique Shah had ordered Kundi a day ago to administer the oath by 4pm on Wednesday or else the provincial assembly speaker would perform the ceremony the same day under Article 255(2) of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the PHC on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking the annulment of Sohail Afridi’s election as the KP chief minister. The petition, on which the court had reserved its verdict earlier today, was filed by Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman on Tuesday. Rehman, who was among the four contenders for the KP chief minister post, had requested the court to "set aside” Afridi’s election and declare it null and void.
During the hearing, which was presided over by Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Waqar Ahmad, Barrister Yaseen appeared on behalf of Rehman against PTI’s Salman Akram Raja.
Raja pointed out that the JUI-F petition at hand "has become ineffective in light of yesterday’s PHC order.” Responding to his comments, Justice Ali said, "Yes, we are aware of the order, but let’s hear the petitioner’s argument.”
Barrister Yaseen told the court, "How was a new chief minister elected if the resignation of the former chief minister had not yet been accepted and the seat remained occupied?”
Citing Article 105 of the Constitution, the petitioner’s counsel pointed out that only the Governor has the right to advise the chief minister,” adding that "Gandapur’s resignation was sent by post; he did not submit it himself.”
To this, Justice Ali responded, saying, "I understand your point - the post will remain vacant until the resignation is accepted.”
The petitioner’s lawyer further argued that the "election was unconstitutional and should not have taken place.” He cautioned that "electing a new chief minister while there already was a chief minister in place could create a constitutional upheaval.”
"If the resignation had been accepted, then it would have made sense to hold the election and all respective parties would have taken part in it,” he added.
"The cabinet has not yet been dissolved; it is still in place,” he noted, to which Justice Ali said: "When the chief minister (Gandapur) is not in his position any more, how are we talking about the cabinet?”