Caretaker K-P chief minister Azam Khan passes away

Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Azam Khan has passed away, it was reported on Saturday.

The retired bureaucrat was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) in Peshawar last night, reportedly over complaints of chest pains. He was a heart patient and was brought to the hospital in a critical condition, it was revealed.

Dr Gulzar, the Director of Operations at RMI, said that the minister was suffering from diarrohea and nausea for the past four days. "His CT scan revealed a hernia, and before we could decide on an operation, he suffered a stroke at 9 pm."

Khan had served as a finance minister and federal secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and as the federal secretary of religious affairs.

The minister studied law at the University of Peshawar and went to Lincoln's Inn, London, to complete his Bar-at-Law degree.

With the demise of the interim chief minister, the caretaker cabinet stands dissolved. Since Khan could not preside over the last meeting of the cabinet, his place was assumed by the Caretaker Minister Syed Masaud Shah.

Khan served as the caretaker chief minister of the province for nine-and-a-half months.

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The caretaker CM's demise has left appointment of a new caretake minister and interim cabinet is the doldrums. Analysts are now wondering whether they will have to resort to former chief minister Mehmood Khan and opposition leader Karam Durrani to stand in the race again.

Condolences

In a statement President Dr Arif Alvi offered his condolences to the family of the late K-P minister and shared that he always found him to be a "noble person." Alvi further prayed for forgiveness and eternal happiness for Khan and patience for his family to deal with the loss.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar took to X (formerly Twitter) to offer his condolences. "I just received the sad news of the death of the caretaker chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azam Khan. He was certainly an honest and good person. May Allah raise the ranks of the deceased and give patience to the bereaved. Ameen." he wrote.