Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and prime minister-designate Imran Khan Wednesday handpicked Mahmood Khan as party's nominee for the slot of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister. Mahmood Khan, PTI's MPA-elect from PK-9 (Swat), secured 25,697 votes and defeated his rival candidate of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Amir Muqam.
A statement issued here from PTI's media cell confirmed that Mehmood Khan has been nominated as chief minister of the province, shattering all the hopes of Atif Khan, a former provincial minister in the cabinet of the then Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who was an aspirant for the top slot.
The sources within the PTI said that Mahmood Khan also had former KP CM Pervez Khattak's backing in the race for the KP CM seat, which was the reason he succeeded in lobbying for the top job of the province's chief executive.
This is the second consecutive time Mahmood Khan became part of KP assembly, as earlier he was provincial minister for sports and tourism in the then administration of Pervez Khattak. He joined the PTI in 2012 and has risen to the rank of President of PTI Malakand Division since then.
The sources within the PTI also said that Khan had made it to the chief minister nominee that he would be axed if he fails to deliver within three to six months after assuming the office.
Background discussions with some senior PTI leaders revealed that Mehmood Khan would not be able to survive more than three months as he is not the right man which can come up to the expectation of Khan given his "not so impressive" performance as provincial minister in Khattak cabinet.
They said that there is a possibility that Mehmood Khan may be replaced with Atif Khan if the former fails to deliver within six months. "Imran Khan has made it clear to the Mehmood Khan that he has no option but to deliver, or else he will be replaced by someone else," said a senior PTI leader who wished not to be named.
Comments
Comments are closed.