K-P governor set to vacate office in February

Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan plans to prepare for the general elections in 2018

PESHAWAR:

Following up his decision to vacate office by the end of the second week of February, Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan has started farewell meetings with officials and his well-wishers. Meanwhile, the PM House is busy trying to find someone to fill the place.

“The governor has resigned. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked Mehtab to stay in office till his replacement is nominated,” an insider privy to the matter told The Express Tribune on Saturday.

Mehtab met the PM in Islamabad on February 4 to discuss his resignation. However, the PM asked Mehtab to continue working till the next Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor is appointed.

Mehtab said he wanted to resign so he could participate more actively in politics. However, insiders say Mehtab was experiencing hurdles in exercising his powers. Soon after assuming office in 2014, he started working on Fata reforms but those could not materialise. For this purpose, he constituted a commission with former chief secretary Ejaz Qureshi, but the body ceased to exist after some time without any explanations rendered to the media or parties involved.

Currently, Mehtab is part of a five-member special committee to help the federal government reform Fata and decide its fate according to the wishes of tribespeople.

Though he met many jirgas and held many meetings with high-ranking officials, he could not implement any of his plans. After vacating the governor’s office, Mehtab plans to prepare for the general elections in 2018, whereas he will try to retain his seat both in the national and provincial assemblies.

Possible successors

The name of Lieutenant General (retd) Tariq Khan Betani has been lingering in the air for the last three days as a possible successor, a politician told The Express Tribune.

However, he said, “There are bright chances of Major (retd) Amir occupying the soon-to-become-vacant office. By appointing Major (retd) Amir, the PM can satisfy many people’s demands.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2016.