PESHAWAR: Ali Amin Gandapur, who was elected as the chief minister of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, on Friday demanded the country’s top election official resign over alleged rigging of Feb. 8 national election in the South Asian country.
The provincial assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday elected Gandapur, backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, as new chief minister of the province.
Gandapur secured 90 votes in Friday’s election, while his opponent, Dr. Ibadullah Khan, from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party secured 16 votes. The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) boycotted the election.
Ahead of Feb. 8 national election, Khan’s PTI party was barred from contesting the polls for breaching electoral laws. Resultantly, the PTI fielded its members as independent candidates, who later joined the minority Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party to claim reserved seats.
But independent candidates, most loyal to Khan, swept the polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by winning 91 out of 113 provincial seats. They were followed by the JUI that secured seven seats, while the rest went to other parties.
“The rigging that has happened, it was the responsibility of the election commission to hold free and fair election constitutionally. They have failed in fulfilling their responsibility. I hereby demand the chief election commissioner tender resignation,” Gandapur said in his maiden speech after being elected as the chief minister.
He urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the chief justice to form an independent judicial commission and provide justice to people for their “stolen” mandate.
Khan’s PTI party had been severely hamstrung ahead of the polls, with rallies banned, its party symbol taken away, and dozens of its candidates rejected from eligibility to stand.
But despite facing what it says a state-backed crackdown, the independents, most loyal to Khan, stunned observers by winning the highest 101 seats in parliament and sweeping the polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“History, not only in Pakistan but in the world, has not witnessed the cruelty which has been faced by our party, our leader and our workers,” Gandapur said.
“Our party symbol was stolen, forget about the level playing field, we were not given a playing field [in the election]. My leader Imran Khan has been put in jail in fake FIRs [first information reports], the reason for his arrest is he spoke for Pakistan and its people, of the sovereignty of Pakistan, of Kashmir and Palestine.”
Khan has been in jail on a slew of charges, which the ex-premier maintains are “politically motivated.” The ex-premier accuses Pakistan’s powerful military of sidelining him and his party from politics. The military denies Khan’s accusations and says it does not interfere in political affairs.
In his speech, Gandapur demanded immediate release of Khan and called for an “open, free and fair trial” of the ex-premier. He demanded all cases registered against his party’s members and supporters be quashed within a week.
“We don’t want revenge as this country and these institutions are ours, but we want reforms,” he said. “We want a system where no one in the country should do unjust and take the law into their hands and take unlawful action against anyone.”
The newly elected chief minister announced he did not seek revenge against his rivals and promised to take all stake-holders along in governing the province.
“I am everyone’s chief minister, I won’t take any political revenge,” Gandapur said. “No person or organization will be allowed to act against the law.”
Dr. Ibadullah congratulated the newly elected chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker of the KP Assembly.
“We have not been sent to abuse each other, the public has sent us and are expecting from us,” he said. “The whole opposition will stand with you [government] in good acts.”
Later, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati adjourned the assembly session for an indefinite period.
Gandapur will take oath of his office at 3pm on Saturday, which would be administered by KP Governor Hajji Ghulam Ali.
On Thursday, the provincial assembly elected Swati as the speaker and Suraiya Bibi as the deputy speaker of the house.
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM-elect demands top election official resign over alleged vote-rigging
https://arab.news/8q58w
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM-elect demands top election official resign over alleged vote-rigging
- Ali Amin Gandapur says his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was not given a playing field in polls, let alone a level one
- Ahead of the Feb. 8 national election, Khan’s PTI party was barred from contesting the polls for breaching electoral laws
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
