Daily Times

The Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly made history on Thursday as it elected a chief minister (CM) from a political party twice in a row after almost four decades.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Mahmud Khan got elected as the 22nd CM of the province in a one-sided contest, securing 77 votes against 33 of Mian Nisar Gul Kakahel, the joint opposition’s candidate. Pakistan Peoples Party had won the CM’s Office twice in a row in the province in the 1970s.

The session was presided by PTI’s Mushtaq Ghani, who won the speaker’s election on Wednesday.

After the announcement of his victory, Khan, an MPA from Swat, addressed the packed House. He assured the opposition lawmakers that he would proceed in all matters of importance to the province, after taking them in confidence. He said he would leave no stone unturned to serve the masses and to carry out development work in all constituencies of the province. He declared a ‘war against corruption’ and resolved to discourage the trend of exploitation.

On the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khan said his government would need the active support of the opposition to settle the issue in line with the aspirations of the tribal people. He said all out measures would be taken to protect the minorities and to improve health and education sectors.

The CM-elect said steps would be expedited for early completion of the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the Swat Expressway projects, including exploration of ways to generate revenue for the projects.

Khan had served as the minister for sports in the outgoing cabinet of PTI’s Pervaiz Khattak. His name emerged for the top executive office in the province at the last moment, reportedly on the recommendation of Khattak.

The CM-elect started his political career as a union council nazim in Matta tehsil of Swat. He won the July 25 election from PK-9 Swat by securing 25,697 votes. Currently in charge of the party’s Malakand Division unit, Khan’s association with the PTI started back in 2012.

Born in Mitha, a hamlet in the scenic Swat Valley, in 1972, he got his primary education at Khwazakhela area in Swat. However, he moved to Peshawar for higher education where he got master degree in agriculture from University of Peshawar.

Speaking to Daily Times, Nisar Ahmad, who was his junior in school, said that Khan came from a family affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) but he started identifying with the PTI even before he decided to formally join the party.

“Since school days, Mahmud is known a thorough gentleman and a straightforward person,” Ahmad recalled. He said the CM-elect was very well reputed in the Swat Valley.

Published in Daily Times, August 17^th 2018.