PESHAWAR: Stark differences have cropped up between the caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Mohammad Azam Khan and KP’s Governor Haji Ghulam Ali and rumours were rife on Monday that CM Azam Khan was planning to resign from office due to governor’s overarching role and interference in his domain by governor and chief secretary KP.
Though the KP CM House spokesperson termed the reports regarding Azam’s resignation as unfounded, he confirmed CM’s differences with Governor Ghulam Ali.
“The governor is biased. It is not possible to conduct a free and fair election with governor in the office,” the spokesperson said quoting caretaker CM Azam.
The reports of resignation of the CM were circulating on social media, quoting the chief minister saying: “When the governor has all the power, what is the need for me to get all the blame”.
The spokesperson said that there was no truth in the reports about the resignation of the caretaker chief minister, “it is just a rumour”.
Further, reports of differences between the caretaker CM and the chief secretary were also being circulated on social media.
A source close to the CM told this scribe that chief secretary KP was also not implementing the orders of the CM and rather he was fully connected with the Prime Minister’s Office, bypassing the chief minister. The source said that CM was planning to resign being powerless.
PTI moves SC against K-P governor, ECP
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Monday filed a contempt petition against the K-P governor and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not announcing the date of elections in the province, saying it is a violation the Supreme Court (SC) order.
The petition maintained that the governor “willfully chose to ignore the exalted status of his high constitutional office”, adding that he is “already in breach of his constitutional responsibilities and that he must appoint the date for holding the general election to the KP Assembly”.
The PTI leader requested the court to initiate judicial proceedings against the governor and “punish him accordingly”.
Ghani also requested the apex court to get its order – announcing the election date – implemented.
“Respondent 1 [KP governor] is not willing or ready to appoint such date, this Honorable Court may either direct that President or any other suitable functionary to appoint such date for poll or fix the date itself, as has been done in a previous election,” the petition concluded.
Sixty-two days have passed since the K-P Assembly was dissolved, but the date of the election has not yet been announced. The apex court had also ordered the governor to give the date for polls in the province.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court announced its verdict after two-day-long proceedings in the case regarding the delay in the announcement of the date for provincial elections in Punjab and KP.
The apex court ordered that elections in both assemblies should be held in the next 90 days, with the chief justice saying: “Democracy cannot exist without assemblies.”
