PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will meet on Monday morning, October 13, to elect a new chief minister following the resignation of Ali Amin Gandapur.
In this regard, an official notification said Speaker of the Assembly, exercising powers under Rule 31(b) of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, 2025, has advanced the sitting from October 20 to October 13 at 10:00 a.m.
The session was previously scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on October 20. The development follows the resignation of Mr. Gandapur, tendered on the instructions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
In this sense, the PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said the Assembly will convene to elect a new Leader of the House.
He told reporters the schedule would be formally issued by the Speaker. Furthermore, addressing a news conference in the Assembly’s Jirga Hall alongside the provincial law minister, Raja clarified that the chief minister does not operate under the governor’s authority and that the governor’s approval is not required for the resignation to take effect.
He said Governor Faisal Karim Kundi had acknowledged receipt of Gandapur’s resignation publicly and that the Governor House issued an official confirmation.
Moreover, the citing Article 130(8) of the Constitution, Raja said a chief minister’s resignation becomes effective when submitted and does not require additional acceptance or notification.
In addition, the legal experts offered a similar reading. The senior lawyer and constitutional expert Abdul Moiz Jaferii said the Assembly has authority to elect a new chief minister immediately after the resignation is submitted and that the governor cannot delay the process.
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PTI has nominated Sohail Afridi as its candidate for chief minister. Salman Akram Raja described Afridi as a “determined and energetic young leader” who will assemble a cabinet mixing continuity and new faces under the guidance of Imran Khan.
