Kundi rejects Gandapur’s resignation citing signature authenticity.
Both Oct 8, Oct 11 resignation bear authentic signatures: Gandapur
Assembly meets to elect new CM; 4 candidates contesting for post.
As the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly scheduled to meet today to elect new leader of the house, uncertainty looms over the election as the governor and incumbent provincial chief executive continue to bicker over the authenticity of the latter’s resignation.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi rejected and returned Gandapur’s resignation, raising objections to his signature and asking the firebrand politician to visit the Governor House on October 15 at 3pm to verify his signature.
However, Gandapur, in a late-night post on X, said that his resignation, submitted on October 8 had been acknowledged by the governor’s office and both the resignation — October 8 and October 11 — bear his authentic signatures.
The KP was pushed into political turmoil and uncertainty after Gandapur stepped down as the province’s chief executive on the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan on October 8.
The former ruling party has since then nominated provincial minister Sohail Afridi as its candidate for the KP CM.
The nomination of Afridi, a young PTI leader who began his political career in 2015 and was elected as MPA in 2024 general elections, has prompted a strong reaction from the federal government, which has accused the PTI of having a soft corner for terrorists.
A day earlier, the KP Assembly Secretariat cleared nomination papers of four candidates contesting the CM’s election.
The papers of PTI’s Afridi, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf, and Pakistan People’s Party’s Arbab Zarak Khan have all been accepted, the secretariat confirmed.
However, with the polling set to take at 10am on Monday (today), Kundi’s resignation and Gandapur’s claim of resignations bearing authenticity has cast doubt on the whole process.
Panjutha slams Kundi’s objection
Meanwhile, Naim Haider Panjutha, a member of PTI’s legal team, in a statement, said, “The governor attempted an unlawful overreach, and we categorically reject it.”
He added that the governor did not cite any constitutional provision to justify his action.
“The constitution does not give the governor any power to raise an objection to or reject a resignation,” Panjutha said. He noted that Gandapur had submitted a written resignation and also issued a video statement.
“Signatures are only checked to confirm a person’s consent, and objections usually arise when someone is absent.”
Panjutha expressed confidence that the election would be held as scheduled in the morning and that Afridi would be elected the new chief minister.
Legal caveats
The PTI is in a rush to elect a new chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without even waiting for the formal acceptance and notification of Gandapur’s resignation.
Analysts fear such a move could trigger a constitutional crisis and block the election itself. PTI’s majority, however, wants the parliamentary party in KP to proceed with the election of Afridi as the new CM following Gandapur’s resignation.
Most leaders appear keen to complete the transition swiftly, but several senior lawyers believe that such haste could backfire legally.
In their view, the office of the chief minister becomes vacant only when the resignation is accepted by the governor.
Without such acceptance and in the absence of an official notification, the post cannot legally be declared vacant, and, therefore, the election of a new chief minister would lead to legal battles.
“The cabinet stands dissolved only after the chief minister’s resignation is accepted. Until then, Gandapur remains the constitutional holder of the office,” a senior legal expert said.
It was discussed even within the PTI that in the past, resignations of PTI parliamentarians were not readily accepted — forcing the party to seek judicial intervention.
They warned that ignoring codal formalities this time would not only invite legal challenges but might also delay or completely block Afridi’s election as CM.
“It seems someone within the PTI is playing a game to block the election of the new chief minister,” remarked a senior PTI leader, hinting at possible internal manoeuvring.
Party sources confirmed that the PTI intends to hold the election “as soon as possible,” even though the Governor’s House has not yet accepted Gandapur’s resignation.
Legal experts maintain that proceeding without this crucial step would render the entire process legally flawed. “Any election held in such circumstances will be invalid in the eyes of the law,” it is even apprehended within the party.
With divisions deepening inside the PTI and the legal ambiguity widening, the hasty move to replace Gandapur risks pushing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa into another phase of political and constitutional uncertainty.