Manzoor Afridi set to become K-P caretaker CM

Manzoor is Senator Ayub Afridi's nephew and cousin of Peshawar Zalmi owner

PESHAWAR: The treasury and opposition benches in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assembly have finally agreed over the name of Manzoor Afridi as the incoming caretaker chief minister of the province.

The consensus was evolved after much speculation that the slot will be left vacant by K-P Chief Minister Parvez Khattak as the provincial assembly period ends on May 28.

According to details, CM Khattak and opposition leader in the provincial assembly Maulana Lutfur Rehman held several sittings, where different names were considered for the slot. However both, Khattak and Rehman could not finalise any name.

“Yes, several sittings were held and many names including bureaucrats, former judges and some retired army official were also discussed but both [Khattak and Rehman] agreed upon someone from the tribal areas, Manzoor Afridi,” a senior government official informed.



According to the official, besides Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), other political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami also proposed some names. Many others including former K-P inspector general Abbas Khan, former director general NEPRA Himayatullah, Sahizadullah Zaeed, journalist Raheemullah Yousafzai, former chief secretary Abdullah and former chief secretary Shakeel Durrani were also brought under consideration.

“Afridi’s name was finalised on Friday night, however it was disclosed on Saturday,” the official further added.

Later, provincial minister of education Atif Khan, while talking to media persons in Mardan, confirmed that Afridi’s name was indeed finalised for the post. He informed that after detailed discussions, the government and opposition finalised Afridi who will be running the provincial government affairs during the caretaker set up.

Manzoor Afridi hails from Khyber Agency’s Bara Tehsil and many of his family members are also in politics with some having been members of the national legislature besides others as members of upper house of the parliament.

Currently, his uncle Ayub Afridi is representing the PTI in the upper house of the parliament. Afridi is also the irst cousin of Javed Afridi, owner of Peshawar Zalmi, former champions of Pakistan Super League (PSL).