Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Ali Amin Gandapur has been elected as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 22nd chief minister. Gandapur, who contested as an independent candidate in the polls, secured the position after voting concluded in the KP Assembly.
The polling to elect the KP Chief Minister began earlier in the day, with Gandapur competing against Dr Ibadullah Khan, the candidate from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
PTI founder Imran Khan had nominated Gandapur as the party’s candidate for the leadership role in KP, and it was anticipated that he would secure the position given the favorable numbers.
Gandapur garnered support from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), while Dr Ibadullah had the backing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P).
Notably, Gandapur chose to run independently after declining to join the SIC, a party that had been joined by PTI-backed independent winners to secure their seats.
Prior to his new role, Gandapur served as the federal minister for Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan in the PTI government at the Centre from October 2018 to April 2022. He has also been a member of the KP Assembly from 2013 to 2018, holding the position of provincial minister for revenue.
Gandapur’s opponent, Dr Ibadullah Khan, was a member of the National Assembly from August 2018 to August 2023 and chaired the Standing Committee of Communications in the NA from April 2019 to August 2023.
The maiden session of the KP Assembly, held on Wednesday, witnessed the oath-taking of the newly-elected lawmakers. Following this, the provincial legislature elected Babar Saleem Swati and Suriya Bibi as speaker and deputy speaker, respectively. Swati secured 89 votes, while Suriya received 87 ballots for these crucial roles.
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