PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration department on Wednesday de-notified two ministers and two special assistants to chief minister belong to Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) as members of provincial cabinet and declared their ministries as vacant.

The QWP cabinet members had tendered resignation following expulsion of the party from the ruling coalition by the majority partner Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on July 31.

A statement issued here said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor accepted resignations of Sikandar Hayat Khan, senior minister for irrigation, social welfare, special education and women empowerment, and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, minister for labor and mineral development.

PTI lawmakers likely to get berths in provincial cabinet again

It said that governor also accepted resignations of Arshad Ali, special assistant to chief minister for technical education, and Abdul Karim, special assistant to chief minister for industries and commerce.

The statement said that after their resignations, both the ministers and special assistants ceased to hold their portfolios with immediate effect.

The de-notification of the QWP minister is likely to set loose the aspirations of those among the PTI, who are vying for cabinet berths before twilight of party government in the province.

A senior PTI member, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that the cabinet slots falling vacant following the resignation of the QWP members were likely to be filled next week.

He said that MPA Shukat Yousafzai and Yasin Khalil were likely to be included in the provincial capital. Both the members in the past have briefly remained part of provincial cabinet.

Mr Yousafzai, a journalist-turned-politician, was among the first ministerial intake following formation of PTI government in the province. He was made information minister and later given health portfolio. Mr Khalil had earlier served in the cabinet as special assistant for transport.

However, both Mr Yousafzai and Mr Khalil were sacked in May, 2014 on charges of incompetency and corruption.

Mr Khalil days after sacking had a fiery exchange with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak at the floor of provincial assembly wherein he accused Mr Khattak of making illegal appointments in the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

However, sources said that Mr Khalil and chief minister buried the hatchet and their relations were cordial.

The PTI leader said that Mr Yousfazai was likely to get the slot of minister while Mr Yasin would be made special assistant. He said that Mr Yousafzai was likely to be given irrigation portfolio.

However, the leader claimed that the remaining two berths were likely to be given to those QWP members, who were likely to support PTI. He claimed that two QWP leaders -- Bakht Baider Khan and Sultan Mohammad Khan -- were likely to be part of the forward bloc in the provincial assembly.

Bakht Baider Khan and another PTI lawmaker Ibrar Hussain had met the chief minister days after humiliating exit of QWP from the provincial cabinet.

However, Mr Baider denied reports that he was part of any forward bloc in QWP. “It is all rubbish and I am not going anywhere,” he told Dawn.

Regarding his meeting with chief minister, he said that Mr Khattak was chief executive of the province and he had every right to meet to discuss with him the issues faced by his electorate.

QWP spokesperson Tariq Khan also denied reports of forward bloc in his party. “Following passage of 18th Amendment, no one can form a forward bloc in any party and those attempting to do so would be declared guilty of floor crossing and lose their seats,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017