PESHAWAR/DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) central leader and former deputy speaker of National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi took oath as governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.

Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim administered oath to him at a ceremony held at Governor’s House. Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur did not attend the oath taking ceremony.

A statement issued from Governor’s House said that the oath taking ceremony was attended by former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf, Federal Minister Amin Maqam, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bhuti, former member of National Assembly Mohsin Dawar, PPP leaders Nadeem Afzal Chan, Nayyar Bukhari, KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chaudhry, provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan, commissioner and administrative secretaries.

Talking to journalists after the ceremony, Mr Kundi said that his party believed in dialogue and he would meet the leadership of all political parties to end financial crisis of the province. He invited provincial government for joint efforts in that regard.

“We do not want confrontation between the province and centre. I will act as a bridge between the centre and the province,” he said. He thanked President Asif Ali Zardari, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and MNA Faryal Talpur for appointing him governor.

Born on May 24, 1975 in a political Kundi family, the newly appointed governor hails from Dera Ismail Khan. He received his primary education from St. Peter’s School in Karachi and did his matric from St. Helen’s High School in Dera Ismail Khan. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from University of Punjab and an LLB degree from Thomas Valley College, London.

Mr Kundi entered practical politics with the local elections of 2001 and ran for the seat of National Assembly from NA-24 as a PPP candidate in general elections 2002 but remained unsuccessful.

In general elections 2008, he managed to make it to National Assembly on PPP ticket and took oath as deputy speaker of the assembly in 2008 at the age of 33. Again in 2013, Mr Kundi contested for NA-24 but lost the polls. He also lost general elections held in 2018 and 2024.

In September 2022, he was appointed special assistant on poverty alleviation and social safety to the then prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. In May 2024, President Asif Ali Zardari approved his appointment as KP governor. He is also central information secretary of PPP.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2024