A legal standoff has intensified in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) sought a response from the governor regarding the swearing-in of the newly elected chief minister.
The development followed a petition by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which requested that the provincial assembly speaker or another official be authorized to administer the oath to Chief Minister-elect Sohail Afridi.
In a four-page written order, Chief Justice Attique Shah directed the governor, through the Attorney General’s Office, to clarify his availability for the oath ceremony and inform the court of his position by 1 p.m. on October 14.
The petition came shortly after Afridi’s election as chief minister in the provincial assembly. Anticipating a delay, PTI approached the high court, arguing that the governor had “made himself unavailable to administer the oath of office.”
PTI Secretary General and counsel Salman Akram Raja told the court that outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had resigned and confirmed his resignation on the assembly floor.
Raja said that opposition leader Dr. Ibadullah objected to the process, citing the governor’s non-acceptance of the resignation, but Speaker Babar Saleem Swati overruled the objection and conducted the election, leading to Afridi’s selection.
“Now any delay in administering the oath would hinder the province’s governance,” Raja argued, urging the court to authorize another official to perform the ceremony.
Additional Attorney General Sana Ullah told the court that there were no circumstances preventing the governor from administering the oath, adding that he was in the country and available on October 15.
The court noted that the record did not show any legal impediment to the governor performing the oath and directed the attorney general’s office to confirm his availability.
The dispute arose after the governor refused to accept Gandapur’s resignation, directing him to appear at the Governor House for verification. The governor said he was out of the city and would return on October 15.
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