Atif, Tarakai cool rumours

Say party is currently focused on forming govt in the centre, Punjab

PESHAWAR: As the PTI secured sufficient seats to comfortably form a government in the province, the speculation on who will be picked as the next chief minister has intensified. However, two front-runners for the post have poured cold water on that talk.

Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elementary education minister Atif Khan and former health minister Shahram Khan Tarakai both came out on Friday and said that a decision on who will be the next chief minister of the province will be taken by the party leadership in due course of time.



Atif had been tipped by party insiders to be leading the race for the coveted slot.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sources had said that it was likely that former chief minister Pervez Khattak will be given a ministry in the new federal cabinet formed by the PTI.

Reports and screenshots of an alleged PTI ministerial line-up which have gone viral on social media claim that former K-P assembly speaker Asad Qaiser has been picked to serve as the new chief minister of the province.

However, party sources denied this, noting that the party needs him in the national assembly to secure its precarious position. In this regard, they suggest that all those party members who have won their national assembly seats along with their provincial assembly seats have been asked to pick their NA seats over the K-P assembly seats.

Since Atif had lost his national assembly seat to Amir Haider Hoti of the Awami National Party (ANP) in Mardan, some party insiders suggested this made him the best candidate to become K-P’s next chief minister.

Talking to The Express Tribune on Friday, the former provincial elementary and secondary education minister said that only the party leadership will decide who will become the next chief minister in the province.

He added that at the moment the party was busy settling the ambiguous situation in Punjab and in the centre. Thereafter, he said, the situation in K-P and Balochistan will be addressed.

Atif pointed out that since the party had won the elections with a clear majority in the province, bordering on a two-thirds majority, they would face no hurdle in selecting a new chief minister.

He, however, criticised members of his own party who have claimed on traditional and social media that they will be the next chief minister of the province or hold key positions in the provincial cabinet.



The former education minister added that the eventual chief minister of the province, together with party leader Imran Khan will decide on cabinet posts based on past performances.

“The party leadership will decide a name for this responsible [chief minister] slot,” he said, adding that no party member could claim to be the CM on their own.

Former K-P health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai told The Express Tribune that the party had been focused on securing a government in the centre with PTI Chairman Imran Khan as the premier.

Echoing Atif’s sentiments, Tarakai said that the second priority of the party was to form a government in Punjab. With a simple majority in K-P assembly in hand, forming a government in the province had fallen down the pecking order.

When asked if he was in contention for the CM’s slot, the former health minister said that party chief Imran Khan was well aware of the performance of each minister and member of K-P assembly, and any selection will likely take place based on that and that they will follow anyone nominated for the slot by the party.

“Our main objective is to implement the PTI manifesto in letter and spirit in the country. The chief minister of K-P should be a person who is fit for the job and implement the manifesto the best” he added.

Tarakai’s family is among the only in the PTI who are sending two MPAs and an NA and a senator from the party.

It is pertinent to mention here that several senior and influential PTI leaders, including Khattak, Atif, Qaiser, Tarakai and the ‘parachute’ from the party’s think tank Taimur Jhagra, are in contention for the coveted position.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2018.