PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent lawmaker Ali Amin Gandapur on Friday was elected by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly as chief minister of the province.
Gandapur secured 90 votes whereas his rival PML-N candidate Ibadullah Khan bagged 16 votes. The election was held through secret ballotting. He is the 22nd elected chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing the assembly after his election as chief minister, Gandapur demanded release of the PTI founder. The PTI leader demanded an open trial of the former prime minister.
At the outset of his address, Gandapur sought guidance from Allah. He thanked the PTI founder for reposing confidence in him. “I promise to live up to the trust of the PTI founder.”
He said his party knew how to get its rights. He said his party wanted to change the system which would ensure justice for everyone.
The PTI leader said his party’s mandate was stolen. “The chief election commissioner (CEC) failed to conduct free and free elections. He should tender his resignation over his failure to hold free, fair and transparent elections. The elections were rigged,” he said.
The KP chief minister-elect urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to hold a judicial inquiry into May 9 violence.
He said he had been a worker of the PTI for 17 years. “But, today I became the chief minister as an independent. It is painful for me,” said the newly-elected chief minister.
The treatment meted out to the PTI has been unprecedented. There could be no precedence of such a treatment to a political party anywhere in the world, he added.
“Our leader has been jailed. There should be an open, fair and transparent trial of the PTI founder and he should be released immediately. Our women workers are still in prison. The injustice done to them should be addressed. We don’t want to exact revenge.”
“Our leader spoke of Pakistan. He was right when he said we are not free but slaves. True freedom was, is and will always be our need.”
On Thursday, Babar Saleem Swati was elected the speaker and Surriya Bibi deputy speaker. As the house has a majority of the PTI-backed members, the session was calm. However, pro-PTI founder slogans continued to echo in the house throughout the session.
Swati defeated Ehsanullah Khan, the joint candidate of the PPP, ANP, PML-N and the PTI-Parliamentarians. In the 106-strong house, he bagged 89 votes while Khan polled 17 votes. Outgoing speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered the oath to newly-elected speaker Swati.
Later, voting for the deputy speaker slot was held. Surriya 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.