PESHAWAR: The Chief Minister’s House has lost its key officers in a drastic reshuffle that followed the leadership change in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The CM Office issued a statement saying that, after the dismissal of the Chief Security Officer, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister has also been relieved of his duties. Muhammad Abid Majeed, who occupied the position previously, is no longer the Principal Secretary with additional charge.
The statement additionally indicated that Ahsan Haider Gondal, a Grade 18 officer, has lost his job as PSO-I. This is in line with the removal two days before of the Chief Security Officer, Najam-ul-Hassan, from his post.
Currently, there are no new appointments for the three positions that are vacant due to these officials being relieved of their duties.
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Earlier on Tuesday, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) announced its reserved verdict regarding the oath-taking ceremony of the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The court directed Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, to administer the oath to the newly elected chief minister tomorrow, Wednesday, 4 PM.
While announcing the reserved verdict, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court, SM Atique Shah directed the governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to administer the oath to the newly elected Chief Minister, Sohail Khan Afridi, by tomorrow at 4 o’clock; otherwise, the Speaker of the assembly may administer the oath to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Peshawar High Court(PHC) ordered the Additional Advocate General to inform the court regarding the schedule of the Governor by 1:00 pm and issued an order that the speaker may take the oath from the Chief Minister in the absence of the Governor.
The Peshawar High Court today issued an order on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the non-administration of the oath, which said that if the governor is not available, the speaker or someone else should be nominated to take the oath. Sohail Afridi was elected leader of the house in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session held on Monday.
During the session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, 90 members of the assembly voted in favour of Sohail Afridi, while the opposition members boycotted the election process, calling it unconstitutional, and walked out of the house in protest.
