Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Gandapur vows assembly Dissolution on Imran Khan's command

Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Thursday reiterated that he would dissolve the provincial assembly whenever his party’s founder, Imran Khan, instructed him to do so.

The chief minister made these remarks while speaking to the media outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where the 72-year-old former prime minister is lodged.

Khan is the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party to which Gandapur belongs.

The cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.

Replying to another question, Gandapur said that the provincial budget was approved to avert a constitutional crisis.

He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province would make decisions based on its own interests and would not participate in any finance committee meetings.

The chief minister again claimed that they were denied access to Khan, calling it a violation of their constitutional right. He added that he would be going to the Supreme Court on Friday on Khan's directive.

Gandapur criticised the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government in Punjab, questioning Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz about the denial of meetings with Khan and the alleged suppression of dissent.

"If you are not in power, then tell me who is," he said. He further alleged that law and order were being trampled, institutions were engaged in wrongdoing, and the judiciary was not independent.

The chief minister said that the party's list for meeting Khan was submitted according to court orders, but they were still being prevented, “as if they were terrorists”.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday strongly criticised Gandapur for threatening to dissolve the government, terming it as treason.

Gandapur on Monday alleged that the federal government is conspiring to impose an emergency in the province and said that he would dissolve the government immediately if former prime minister Imran Khan orders.

Kundi warned that any threat to dissolve the assembly would be tantamount to "rebellion against the Constitution".