PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and leader of opposition Maulana Lutfur Rehman on Sunday faced embarrassing situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly after parliamentary leaders of different parties criticised them for not consulting them about nominating the caretaker chief minister.

According to reports, name of Manzoor Afridi has been finalised by the chief minister and leader of the opposition for the slot of caretaker chief minister of the province.

Parliamentary leader of ANP Sardar Hussain Babak said in the assembly that leader of opposition Maulana Lutfur Rehman was representing entire opposition benches not only his party, JUI-F. “We were not expecting this type of attitude from the opposition leader,” he said.

He said that the opposition leader took very important decision without consulting a single party of the opposition. He added that the name of a rich businessman was finalised to become caretaker chief minister.

“That person is neither a retired government servant nor a judge and politician but only a rich man. What the poor seasoned politicians would do if the billionaire and millionaire non-political people become senators and chief ministers,” said Mr Babak.

He alleged that there were reports that chief minister and JUI-F leaders had taken money for nominating a little known person for the slot of caretaker chief minister.

QWP parliamentary leader Sikanadar Sherpao also complained that no one had consulted him over the issue. PPP parliamentary leader Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha and PML-N leader Aorangzeb Nalotha also expressed the same concerns in their debate on the issue.

Responding to the criticism, Maulana Luftur Rehman said that parliamentary leaders of the opposition parties should trust in him.

“I have asked each parliamentary leader if their parties have names for the caretaker chief ministers but none of them provided any name,” he said.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that the name of Manzoor Afridi was not yet finalized for the slot of caretaker chief minister.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2018