KP Assembly session postponed

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Salim Swati has adjourned the provincial assembly session scheduled for today (Monday) until August 26.

The notification issued on Sunday cited no reasons for the delay. However, political analysts believed that the move was aimed at avoiding the anticipated speech by former provincial minister Shakil Khan.

Shakil had announced to make a speech on the provincial assembly floor to reveal all the facts that led to his resignation or removal from the provincial cabinet as minister for Communication and Works.

Elected from Malakand for a third consecutive term, Shakil Khan had also served as a minister in previous PTI-led governments under Pervez Khattak and Mehmood Khan. In the current cabinet led by Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, Shakil held the portfolio of Communication and Works.

The discord between Shakil Khan and Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur emerged in the first week of August when the ex-minister along with Mohammad Ali Saif, Advisor to the Chief Minister on Information, held a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club.

During the conference, Shakil Ahmad exposed alleged irregularities and corruption within his department, specifically involving the secretary of the Communication and Works Department.

He claimed that, after meeting PTI’s founding chairman Imran Khan in Adiala Jail, he decided to expose the corruption. He alleged that the secretary of Communication and Works had released Rs7.87 billion in May and June to various construction firms without his consent and that some high-ranking officials in the KP government had received substantial commissions.

A high-level three-member committee was constituted on the directives of PTI founder Imran Khan. This committee was later converted into a Good Governance Committee, comprising former governor Shah Farman, former senator Qazi Anwar, and PTI MNA Junaid Akbar from Malakand district. Junaid Akbar was later replaced by Brig (r) Musadiq Abbassi, advisor to the chief minister on accountability.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spokesperson Barrister Saif stated that the provincial minister was removed based on the three-member committee’s recommendations to the chief minister.

Shakil Ahmad, however, claimed that he resigned from the cabinet in protest and intended to reveal all the facts about his resignation or removal on the provincial assembly floor. With the Assembly session now delayed for a week, the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, has instructed all PTI ministers and MPAs to remain silent on the issue.