KP Assembly dissolved after governor signs CM’s summary

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly stood dissolved on Wednesday after Governor Ghulam Ali signed and approved Chief Minister Mahmood Khan’s summary for the dissolution of the provincial legislature.

After the governor signed the summary, Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Bangash issued a notification and de-notified the 26-member cabinet of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isnaf government.

Unlike the media reports that the governor may not sign the summary, Ghulam Ali seemed to be anxiously waiting for Mahmood Khan to send him the summary as soon as possible.

JUIF leader Abdul Jalil Jan said Governor Ghulam Ali opened his office at 1am and signed the summary to send the PTI government packing.

“Whereas the Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has advised for the dissolution of the Provincial Assembly, vide his advice dated 17th January, 2023, received at my office on 17th January, 2023, at 2200 hours; Now, therefore, I, Ghulam Ali, Governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under Clause (1) of Article 112 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, dissolve the Provincial Assembly of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with immediate effect. Henceforth, the provincial cabinet also stands dissolved. In terms of Clause (4) of Article 224-A of the Constitution, the incumbent Chief Minister, Mr Mahmood Khan shall continue to hold office to perform day to day affairs of the province till the appointment of the caretaker chief minister,” it was explained in the summary issued by the Governor’s House.”

It further stated that in terms of Article 224(1A) of the Constitution, to appoint the caretaker chief minister “by the governor in consultation with the chief minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing provincial assembly”, within the stipulated period of three days as provided by Article 224-A(1), the office of the governor shall be available for consultation without any formal appointment till expiry of the aforesaid period.

Relations between the outgoing chief minister Mahmood Khan and opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani seem to be hostile following a fiery statement of the opposition leader, saying he will not sit with the chief minister to discuss the caretaker setup.

Sources close to Chief Minister Mahmood Khan told The News that he had not yet discussed the caretaker setup. “Some people are unnecessarily making claims about different people and their role in the caretaker setup. There is no truth in these reports that Mahmood Khan has not yet discussed it with party chairman Imran Khan,” a PTI leader close to the chief minister told The News.

Meanwhile, the chief secretary issued a notification and de-notified the 26-member provincial cabinet. “In pursuance of the dissolution of the Provincial Assembly vide Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Law Department’s Notification No. Legis:4(1)77/Vol-II/19175-79 dated 18-01-2023, it is hereby notified for general information that the following Provincial Ministers/Advisers/Special Assistants to Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have ceased to hold their respective portfolios on 18-01-2023,” it is stated in the notification.

The cabinet members de-notified included Muhammad Atif Khan, Food and ST&IT (additional charge of Sports & Youth Affairs), Shahram Khan Tarakai, Elementary & Secondary Education, Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra, Finance (additional charge of Health Department), Muhammad Ishtiaq Urmar, Environment, Forest and Wildlife, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Public Health Engineering, Mohibullah Khan, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Dr. Amjad Ali, Housing, Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Labour and Culture (additional/charge of Parliamentary Affairs & Human Rights), Malik Shah Muhammad Khan, Transport, Iqbal Wazir, Relief & Rehabilitation, Anwar Zeb Khan, Zakat & Ushr.

Meanwhile, the opposition has formed a three-member parliamentary committee for finalising the nomination for the caretaker Punjab chief minister, local media reported on Wednesday.

The parliamentary committee was formed in pursuance of a letter to the Punjab Assembly speaker by the Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz.

The committee members include Malik Ahmed Khan, Hassan Murtaza and Nadeem Kamran. Khalid Tahir Sindhu has been dropped from the committee.

Earlier in the day, it was learnt that the issue of the nomination of caretaker chief minister of Punjab was referred to the parliamentary committee.

Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman has written a letter to the Speaker Punjab Assembly for the constitution of a parliamentary committee over the nomination of caretaker CM of the province.

Following the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, the government and opposition expedited consultations for a caretaker set-up in the province.

The PA speaker will form a six-member committee, comprising three members each from the government and the opposition.

PMLN, the largest opposition party in the provincial assembly, was expected to nominate Malik Ahmad Khan, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and Peoples Party’s Hassan Murtaza as its nominees for the committee.

In case the matter is not decided by the parliamentary committee, the issue of the nomination of Punjab caretaker chief minister will be forwarded to the election commission for final decision.