PESHAWAR/KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman has decided to resign once PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif is elected as the country’s prime minister, whereas Sindh Governor Imran Ismail is likely to follow suit.

The developments came amid reports that PTI lawmakers would resign en masse from the National Assembly on Monday (today), a day after former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence resolution.

According to a brief statement issued by KP Governor House, Mr Farman said: “I will relinquish as the governor after Shehbaz Sharif be­comes the prime minister.”

“Being a governor, I will not be able to extend the required protocol to Shehbaz Sharif as the prime minister,” Mr Farman said, adding that he would send his resignation to President Dr Arif Alvi.

An official in the governor secretariat told Dawn the KP governor had already started shifting his belongings from Governor House to his home.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail is also likely to quit his office, party sources said on Sunday, a move that would create room for the incoming government to adjust one of its allies in Sindh, where the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan entered into an agreement last month to move forward after the fall of Imran Khan’s government.

Imran Ismail “will definitely resign following the decision of the party’s high command”, a PTI lawmaker said when asked about the future of the Sindh governor.

“He will announce his decision soon. Once the decision about the National Assembly is finalised, we hope you will be hearing from the Sindh governor. Future decisions will follow afterwards,” the lawmaker said.

But the question remains: who will be the next governor?

“Things would become clearer once the decisions about a government in the centre are finalised,” a PPP leader said when asked about the possible name for the Sindh governor slot. “It’s not a big issue. It will be sorted out amicably.”

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2022