PTI drops Afridi’s name after opposition protest

Election commission to make the pick if parliamentary committee fails

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government dropped Manzoor Afridi’s name on Monday as the K-P caretaker chief minister following protest of opposition parties in the assembly.

“PTI had dropped Afridi’s name from the candidates’ list and this has also been approved by the party Chairman Imran Khan since it was speculated that Afridi had bribed the government,” Shaukat Yousafzai told media after the parliamentary party meeting at Qaisar’s house.

According to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership, a meeting was held at the former K-P speaker Asad Qaisar’s house where the parliamentary board meeting was held in connection with awarding tickets for the next general elections. Afridi’s name was dropped however Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) was reluctant to step down.

Shaukat Yousafzai said that his party has withdrawn the name of Afridi and that the party chairman has endorsed the decision.  According to Yousafzai, Afridi’s name was dropped by PTI after an opposition party levelled serious allegations against him. “It’s not PTI, but the opposition that created the controversy,” he claimed.

A senior PTI member said that the opposition parties including Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) staged protest for having been neglected during the process for selection of the caretaker chief minister.

“Well there might be three names but what seems to happen is that the former DG NEPRA Himayatullah Khan is likely to be sworn in,” the senior politician said, adding that former K-P chief minister Parvez Khattak and JUI-F leader Maulana Lutf-ur-Rehman failed to finalize name thus a parliamentary committee will decide it.

“Yes, the election commission will be an option of last resort if the parliamentary committee fails…election commission to make selection and that too, within 48 hours,” he said.

On May 26, treasury and opposition benches in the K-P Assembly finally agreed over the name of Manzoor Afridi as the caretaker chief minister of the province.

Political parties including PTI and 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.