PESHAWAR – Sohail Afridi officially took oath as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, following a court order directing the governor to administer the oath by 4pm. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath during a ceremony at Governor House in Peshawar, despite earlier travel delays.
Earlier, the Peshawar High Court issued a detailed judgment mandating the governor to complete the oath process on time. The court warned that failure to do so would trigger Article 255 of the Constitution, allowing the provincial assembly speaker to step in and avoid a constitutional vacuum. The ruling emphasized the importance of timely power transfer under Article 130(5).
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The ceremony began with disorder, as PTI workers present at the event pushed and shoved each other, creating an atmosphere of chaos. Despite the unruly scenes, the oath-taking was completed, marking the formal start of Afridi’s tenure as the province’s executive head.
Sohail Afridi, a nominee of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was elected as Leader of the House on October 13 with 90 votes, following the resignation of former CM Ali Amin Gandapur. The opposition had boycotted the session, and the resignation was later confirmed through a submitted transcript of Gandapur’s speech.
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Governor Kundi, who was in Karachi at the time of the court order, stated that he never refused to administer the oath. He assured reporters he would fulfill his constitutional role and had requested a plane from the Sindh CM to reach Peshawar in time. The event now sets the stage for Afridi to begin his term amid ongoing political tensions.