Peshawar: Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa directed the provincial cabinet members to resign on the bases of their unsatisfactory performance. It has been reported that most of the caretaker ministers have already submitted their resignations.
Currently, 19 cabinet members have tendered their resignations to the caretaker chief minister, while 8 members are yet to do so. According to sources four members out of 8 unresigned members regretted from submission thier resignations, have been informed that those will be denotified. However one of the cabinet members confirmed that five members of the provincial cabinet including Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah Kakakhel, Zafar Mehmood, Shafiullah Khan, Jarar Bukhari and Salma Bigum were absent on the occasion while Hamid Shah, Sawal Nazir and Manzoor Afridi denied to tender thier resignations who have already been told by the Care Taker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that they will automatically be denotified.
It is worth mentioning that Azam Khan was appointed as the caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on January 21, 2023, following the dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He took the oath of office on the same day.
On January 26, Governor Ghulam Ali was sworn in as the caretaker cabinet at the Governor’s House.
On July 31, the Election Commission instructed the Chief Minister to remove ministers with political affiliations from the cabinet. A letter was sent to the caretaker chief minister on behalf of the Election Commission, stating that some ministers, advisers, and special assistants were selected based on their political connections. The letter demanded the immediate removal of ministers, assistants, and advisers involved in politics, as their behavior was not in line with the spirit of the caretaker government. The Election Commission further ordered the caretaker chief minister to minimize the size of his cabinet.
Previously, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had taken notice of the attendance and address of caretaker provincial minister Shahid Khattak at an Awami National Party (ANP) rally and instructed for his removal from the ministry.