Pervez Khattak, Atif Khan in the run for K-P CM slot

Party chairman's choice will be respected, says Atif Khan

PESHAWAR: Former chief minister Pervez Khattak and former provincial education minister Mohammad Atif Khan are the two candidates being considered for the position of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Chief Minister.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party sources confirmed to The Express Tribune that former provincial assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, former senior minister Shahram Khan Taraki, party leaders Haider Ali, Mehmood Khan, and Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra were previously being considered for the coveted post.



The sources added that the party held a meeting at Bani Gala till late Wednesday night which was attended by the party leadership and prospective candidates were present.

Khan, one of the two reportedly in the running for the post of provincial chief executive, told The Express Tribune that the party chairman's choice will be respected and it is his prerogative to appoint the new chief minister.

Khan was former minister for elementary and secondary education in K-P and won from the constituency of PK-50 Mardan with 25,807 votes. He beat Awami National Party’s (ANP) Haroon Khan and Pakistan Peoples Party’s Khwaja Hoti by a large margin. He was also contesting from the NA-21 seat but lost to ANP’s Haider Hoti.

Pervez Khattak won from two seats, PK-64 Nowshera-IV and NA-25 Nowshera-I.



On Monday, Khattak gathered 42 newly elected representatives of the K-P assembly who secured their seats on a PTI ticket at the Speaker House in Peshawar to show his ‘strength’ to competitors for the CM slot. However, talking to media after the meeting, Khattak refuted news regarding lobbying in PTI and said that the meeting was just a get-together to celebrate the party’s victory.