Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday sent the summary for the dissolution of the provincial legislature to Governor Haji Ghulam Ali.

The move comes days after the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly as PTI Chairman Imran Khan inches closer to fulfilling his promise of disassociating from the “current corrupt political system” by quitting the two assemblies where he is in power.

The chief minister’s advice, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said: “I, Mahmood Khan, chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in pursuance of provisions of Article 112(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, do hereby forward my advice for dissolution of KP Assembly on January 17, 2023, at 17:00 hours.”

In a video message, CM Mahmood said that his team did its best to serve the people during their four years in government, in accordance with Imran’s vision.

“We will return with a two-thirds majority, not just in KP but in all of Pakistan and form a government on the basis of our performance,” he said, adding that his government had fulfilled the promises it had made with the people.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the KP chief minister, in accordance with the party’s decision and the directives issued by Imran, had forwarded the summary for the dissolution of the provincial assembly to the governor.

“If the governor does not dissolve the assembly in 48 hours, it will [automatically] stand dissolved on Thursday,” he said, adding that the move would pave the way for general elections in the country.

Provincial minister for elementary and secondary education Shahram Khan Tarakai, meanwhile, said that the KP Assembly would be dissolved by tonight.

“This will be a moment for all of us where we will be standing proud and more confident with Imran Khan. We are from the public and the public choose @ImranKhanPTI,” he said.

Earlier, KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif had told Dawn.com that the summary for the dissolution of the assembly would be sent to the governor before midnight.

Dissolution of Punjab, KP assemblies

Over the weekend, the Punjab Assembly (PA) stood dissolved as Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman excused himself from the process, saying he could not become a part of the move.

Subsequently, CM Mahmood had also promised to dissolve the KP provincial assembly following the dissolution of the PA, saying a summary to this effect would be sent to Governor Ali on January 17 (today).

“According to the orders [issued] from leader Imran Khan, a summary for dissolution of the KP assembly will be sent to the governor on Tuesday,” the CM had said in a tweet.

The announcement had come after an online meeting between Imran, the KP cabinet and former KP governor Shah Farman at the CM House.

Addressing the 86th cabinet meeting today, CM Mahmood thanked the government and opposition MPAs apart from the provincial bureaucracy for the last four years that passed by happily.

“I thank the public of KP for posing their trust in me,” he added. “In the upcoming general elections, we will establish a government with a two-thirds majority in the entire country.”

The chief minister said there was instability in the country due to imported rulers and that getting rid of the corrupt gang had become inevitable.

On January 15, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif attending an important party meeting via video link from London had directed its leaders and workers to start preparing for elections in Punjab and pledged that the federal coalition would not be “blackmailed” by the PTI chief’s demand to hold snap elections in the country.

A party insider had told Dawn that Nawaz was categorical about Imran’s demand to hold snap polls in the country. “Nawaz had said … come what may, we will not be blackmailed by Khan’s demand. The general elections will be held on time (Oct-Nov 2023).”