Islamabad/ Karachi: Pervez Khan Khattak, central general secretary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), took over as chief minister of northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa after his election by the provincial assembly on Friday.
The 63-year-old experienced politician secured 84 votes while his opponents, Maulana Lutfur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema Islam-F religious-political party, bagged 37 votes in the election held in Peshawar, capital of the militancy-plagued province.
Khattak was also supported by provincial lawmakers belonging to Qumi Watan Party‚ Jamaat-e-Islami‚ Pakistan People’s Party‚ All Pakistan Muslim League and Awami Jamhroi Itehad.
PTI chairman Imran Khan, in a statement issued from his home in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, said the election of Pervez Khattak as chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reflects the success of democratic forces.
He hoped that under the leadership of Khattak‚ the province would achieve remarkable development and people would feel a change in their lives.
The province is beset by violence linked mainly to banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit operating from bases in the tribal territory.
Khattak has said he would back peace efforts of the incoming federal government of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) whose chief Nawaz Sharif is set to be elected prime minister on June 5 by the National Assembly in Islamabad. It will be Sharif’s third term as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who has set a record of becoming the chief minister of Sindh province thrice, on Friday vowed to complete the second five-year term implementing the manifesto of Benazir Bhutto, former leader of Pakistan People’s Party.
Shah was talking to media after laying floral wreath and paying tribute to Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founding father of the nation, after taking oath as the chief minister of the province.
He said that the people elected the PPP for the second consecutive time in the province and he would not forget the trust of the people in the party. In order to come up the peoples expectations, he said, the government would try its best to implement Bhutto‘s socio-economic uplift programme.
Shah said that it would have been a pleasure to have Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the government like previous term but it was their democratic right to exercise their own will.
The chief minister also asked media to highlight the social, political and economic issues in a productive way so that he could take notice
of the matter and resolve them too. He said the government would correct itself on the pointing of irregularities by the media.
In order to tame the unbridled law and order situation in the Karachi, he said, the government would take steps to improve coordination between the police and paramilitary rangers.
