Ali Amin Gandapur elected KP chief minister

PTI MPA Ali Amin Gandapur was elected as the 22nd Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister during voting in the provincial legislature on Friday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Gandapur won the election by securing a total of 90 votes while his rival PML-N’s Ibadullah Khan got 16 votes.

Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers took part in voting to elect a new leader of the house.

My govt will focus on improving security, generating revenue: Gandapur

Giving his first speech after being elected as KP chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur highlighted the need for peace and security for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa people as one of his biggest challenges as the province’s chief executive. “We need to stand on our own feet, and not take loans,” he said, adding “We need to increase our revenue and give relief to the poor, not burden them.”

He set a one-week deadline to quash first information reports (FIRs) against PTI workers. “Be ready for punishment if the FIRs aren’t removed,” he added.

Gandapur decried the “injustice and cruelty” imposed on party leadership, including Imran Khan and party workers. “We need to change this precedent; today it happens with us, tomorrow it will happen with someone else. The nation will hold us accountable, and we will need to give answers,” he added.

Gandapur commended Imran Khan for giving Pakistan a better standing in the world and said the PTI founder chairman was correct in saying that Pakistan was not free but shackled in slavery.

On Thursday, the KP Assembly had elected Sunni Ittehad Council candidates Babar Saleem Swati as the speaker and Suraiya Bibi as the deputy speaker.

The PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Babar Saleem Swati won the election against Ehsanullah Khan, the joint candidate of the PPP, ANP, PML-N, and the PTI-Parliamentarians.

In the 106-strong house, Mr Swati bagged 89 votes whereas Mr Khan got 17 votes. Mushtaq Ghani administered the oath to newly-elected speaker Swati, who announced voting for the deputy speaker slot.

Suraiya Bibi, who won the election from Chitral on a general seat, defeated PTI-P’s Arbab Muhammad Waseem by securing 87 votes against her rival’s 19 votes. The session was boycotted by the JUI-F.

Reporter Amer Shahzad