On Wednesday, Governor Haji Ghulam Ali signed and approved Chief Minister Mahmood Khan’s summary for the dissolution of the provincial assembly, causing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to be dissolved.
The action comes days after the Punjab Assembly was dissolved. PTI Chairman Imran Khan has threatened to leave both of the legislatures where he now holds office in order to distance himself from the “current corrupt political system.”
The leader of the opposition, Akram Khan Durrani, and chief minister Mahmood both received a notification from the governor, which was made public by Dawn.com. According to Clause 1 of Article 112 of the Constitution, the KP Assembly and provincial cabinet were dissolved immediately.
According to the law, the governor must dissolve the provincial assembly upon the chief minister’s recommendation. If the governor doesn’t act sooner, the provincial assembly will be dissolved 48 hours after the chief minister’s recommendation.
According to the announcement, Mahmood and Durrani will be consulted before the governor names the caretaker CM. The governor requested that they submit their list of candidates for the position by January 21. Mahmood would continue to serve in that capacity and oversee the province’s daily operations until the caretaker CM is named, he added.
On Tuesday night, Mahmood had formally advised the governor to dissolve the provincial legislature. The chief minister’s advice said: “I, Mahmood Khan, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in pursuance of provisions of Article 112(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, do hereby forward my advice for dissolution of KP Assembly on January 17, 2023, at 17:00 hours.”
Later, in a video message, he said that the PTI would return with a “two-thirds majority not just in KP but all of Pakistan and form a government on the basis of our performance”.
Dissolution of assemblies
The Punjab Assembly (PA) was dissolved over the weekend as Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman withdrew from the sessions, claiming he was unable to participate.
After the PA was dissolved, CM Mahmood also pledged to dissolve the provincial parliament for KP, saying a report will be delivered to Governor Ali on January 17. (today).
The CM had previously tweeted, “According to the directions [given] from leader Imran Khan, a summary for dissolving the KP assembly will be sent to the governor on Tuesday.”
Imran, the KP cabinet, and former KP governor Shah Farman had met online at the CM House before the announcement.