Suhail Afridi sworn in as 30th Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Suhail Afridi, leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was officially sworn in as the 30th Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Wednesday evening, following a court directive.

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) had on Tuesday ordered KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to administer the oath to Afridi, who was nominated by the PTI founder and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The court declared Afridi’s election constitutional and instructed that the oath be administered by 4 pm on Wednesday, warning that the provincial assembly speaker could perform the ceremony under Article 255(2) of the Constitution if the governor did not comply.

Governor Kundi administered the oath at the Governor’s House in Peshawar in the presence of party leaders and assembly members. The event concluded weeks of uncertainty surrounding the resignation of outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, also of PTI, whose two resignation submissions had been returned over “disparate signatures.” PTI maintained that a chief minister’s resignation does not require governor approval under the Constitution.

Afridi was elected to the KP Provincial Assembly from PK-70 (Khyber-II) in the 2024 general elections and previously served as Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Communication and Works, before taking on a ministerial role in the Higher Education Department.

The swearing-in session followed a PTI-dominated assembly meeting on Monday, where Afridi’s election was confirmed amid an opposition walkout. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also called on Governor Kundi to fulfil his “constitutional and legal responsibility” in accordance with the PHC order.

With Afridi’s oath, he formally assumed office as the Chief Executive of KP, tasked with leading the province under PTI’s governance framework and continuing the administrative agenda set by the party leadership.