PESHAWAR — In a dramatic twist to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s unfolding political drama, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) has announced that it will challenge the election of the new Chief Minister, Sohaib Afridi, in the Peshawar High court.
Their demand: accept the resignation of the previous chief minister before proceeding with any new appointment.
Lutfur Rehman, JUI-F’s parliamentary leader in KP, arrived at the province’s High Court. Addressing reporters, he declared that Afridi’s election—held Monday—is “unconstitutional and legally flawed,” and must be overturned.
“We have come to contest the selection of the new chief minister, because the polls were held in violation of constitutional and legal requirements,” he said, “Until the prior chief minister’s resignation is formally accepted, the new election holds no legal value.”
According to the JUI-F leadership, the former Chief Minister’s resignation remains pending approval. They argue that the KP Governor has yet to validate this resignation, claiming to have summoned the previous office-holder for clarification. Under these circumstances, they maintain, any appointment of a successor is invalid.
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Lutfur Rehman also hinted at procedural anomalies. He said that party members filed their nomination papers upon the Speaker’s instruction, but deliberately boycotted the assembly session in protest of what they saw as an irregular process. Later, upon receiving the governor’s communiqué, they discovered that the resignation had not been accepted—rendering the new election premature.
“Our stance is clear: first accept the former chief minister’s resignation, then hold a new election. One cannot legally leapfrog that order,” he said. “Why the haste? Until the new CM is sworn in, the old administration could continue its work.”
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Earlier, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi himself has publicly questioned the legality of Afridi’s election. Kundi stated that the election cannot be recognized until Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation is officially accepted.
On 13 October, Afridi secured the chief ministership with 90 votes in a session overseen by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati. PTI-backed independent legislators, sidelined opposition parties, and boycotted members contributed to the one-sided outcome.
Yet Kundi voiced uncertainty over who would issue Afridi’s notification, insisting that he must first confirm Gandapur’s resignation—he says this will occur upon his return on 15 October.
He told journalists that, until that procedural validation is complete, the new government’s legitimacy remains in limbo: “Who will issue his notification? Who can swear him in? I am not satisfied with the status of the resignation
