MANSEHRA: Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on Saturday said that the imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could not be ruled out if the chief minister failed to fulfil his official responsibilities.

“I cannot say anything that the KP chief minister will be given a chance to meet Imran Khan or not, if he doesn’t mend his ways, governor’s rule is imminent in the province,” he told reporters.

Flanked by PML-N parliamentary leader in the KP Assembly Sardar Shahjehan Yusuf, district president Syed Junaid Ali Qasim, and tehsil chairman Mansehra Sheikh Shafee, Mr Safdar said that the province was facing multiple challenges, yet the chief minister seemed more focused on meeting his Murshad (Imran Khan).

“If Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi doesn’t pay heed to his official responsibilities as he is yet to announce his cabinet and fails to resolve the core issues confronting the people, I cannot rule out the imposition of governor’s rule in the province,” he remarked.

Says Afridi needs to fulfil responsibilities in view of multiple challenges

Mr Safdar said that the Haripur National Assembly seat had long been a PML-N stronghold as Gohar Ayub Khan and his son Umar Ayub Khan had won from the constituency three times.

“Sardar Mushtaq defeated Umar Ayub Khan (now a PTI leader), and a young PML-N aspirant, Babar Nawaz Khan, who is once again contesting from the same constituency, won the by-election with 150,000 votes,” he said while recounting his party’s electoral successes in NA-18.

Mr Safdar, also the son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, claimed that his party would reclaim its lost ground in the upcoming general elections.

“This time, our two sisters, PPP’s Arkham Khan and Mrs Umar Ayub, also our sister and daughter, have been contesting elections from this constituency, but our party’s candidate will win with a margin of 55,000 votes,” he asserted.

OWNERSHIP RIGHTS: Participants of a jirga have demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to restore the previous status of ownership of Guzara forests in Torghar district.

“The government withdrew locals’ ownership rights over their forests in the erstwhile tribal belt of Torghar in 2012, which is unacceptable to us at any cost,” Haji Mohammad, tehsil chairman of Judbah, told the jirga.

The jirga was attended by the deputy commissioner and elders of all major tribes of Torghar, which was granted the status of a settled district after its separation from Mansehra in 2011.

They stressed that the provincial government should implement the Peshawar High Court’s decision regarding forest ownership.

“In the past, protection of local forests and prevention of illegal logging were the responsibility of local tribes, but since the change in status, such activities could no longer be checked effectively,” Haji Mohammad said.

Speaking on the occasion, the deputy commissioner, Anwar Zeb Khan, assured the jirga participants that he would take up the issue with the provincial government.

Meanwhile, Shah Nawaz Khan, a local elder, told reporters that due to his and others’ persistent efforts, the KP minister for forests had issued special directives to the department concerned to ensure reclassification of Guzara forests in Torghar district.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2025