• Kundi chairs technocratic advisory council’s first meeting
• Kifayat Ullah gets home & tribal affairs portfolio; Amir Javed handed law & parliamentary affairs
• Ex-FBR chairmen Tariq Pasha, Dr Irshad to steer finance, industry portfolios
• Ex-army surgeon general Nigar Johar to oversee health; Dr Syed Amir Abdullah given charge of education
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Following the federal imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government has formed an 11-member technocratic advisory council to manage provincial affairs, with Governor Faisal Karim Kundi chairing its inaugural meeting on Sunday.
The council was constituted to assist Mr Kundi in exercising executive authority, replacing the ousted provincial administration.
During the session at the governor house, the newly appointed advisers formally assumed their respective portfolios before Mr Kundi outlined the administration’s primary objective of an uncompromising campaign against terrorism.
According to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the council comprises “competent” individuals to steer the provincial apparatus as opposed to the PTI-led provincial government.
Two officials with administrative and legal backgrounds will oversee the province’s security and legal affairs.
Mr Kifayat Ullah Khan, a former provincial prisons inspector general and commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan and Mardan, has taken charge as adviser for home and tribal affairs.
Mr Amir Javed, a Supreme Court advocate and former provincial advocate general, has been named adviser for law and parliamentary affairs.
The economic and industrial portfolios went to two former chairmen of the Federal Board of Revenue, Tariq Mehmood Pasha and Dr Muhammad Irshad.
Mr Pasha, a former special assistant to the prime minister on revenue, will serve as adviser for finance, revenue, excise and taxation. Dr Irshad, who holds a doctorate in finance and sits on the Pakistan Red Crescent Society board, has been appointed adviser for industries and commerce.
Dr Syed Amir Abdullah and retired Lt Gen Nigar Johar Khan will oversee education and public health, respectively.
Mr Abdullah, who holds a doctorate in international relations from the Netherlands and previously served on the National Counter Terrorism Authority expert committee, has been appointed adviser for education.
Ms Khan, the country’s first female three-star army officer and a former surgeon general of the Pakistan Army, has been named adviser for health. Her career was dramatised in the film Aik Hai Nigar.
Responsibility for infrastructure and natural resources falls to Dr Sarfraz Ali Shah and Asif Rafiq Afridi.
Mr Shah, a former provincial planning advisor who holds a doctorate in economics, has been named adviser for mines and minerals. Mr Afridi, an entrepreneur and former caretaker minister, has been appointed adviser for communication and works, local government, housing and transport.
The remaining appointments are Osman Saifullah Khan, Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Qureshi and Samar Haroon Bilour.
Mr Saifullah, a former senator and All Pakistan Textile Mills Association chairman, will serve as adviser for energy and power, planning and development. Mr Qureshi, the chief khateeb of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been named adviser for auqaf and religious affairs.
Ms Bilour, a sitting member of the National Assembly, has taken charge as adviser for information and broadcasting.
‘Fight against terrorism’
After the technocrats introduced themselves and their portfolios, Mr Kundi addressed the meeting and congratulated the members of the council, while noting that they would have to face many challenges and saying that extraordinary constitutional measures had become imperative to restore law and order.
“I have one message: peace, protection and stability have to be brought back to KP,” he said, adding that ethnic Pakhtuns were the biggest victims of the violence that has plagued the region. “The time has now come to give the people of the province, who have rendered these sacrifices, the right to peace. Our fight is against terrorism. Our fight is against the ideology and network which facilitates terrorism and weakens the implementation of the law.”
The objective, he said, would be to eliminate the whole ecosystem giving rise to terrorism in the province.
“We cannot solve the issue by just targeting terrorists. Those facilitating and financing … must be eliminated,” he said, adding that those involved in terrorism would be dealt with according to the law.
He pledged to bolster the operational strength of both the regular police and the Counter-Terrorism Department, adding that good governance would be measured by tangible service delivery. The council will focus heavily on healthcare, education and employment, he said.
Mr Kundi directed the advisers to undergo immediate briefings and accelerate stalled governance initiatives, calling the emergency rule an opportunity to rebuild the province’s soft image.
“We have to fast-track things. There will be zero tolerance on corruption,” Mr Kundi said. “If we have peace, we will get tourists and investors. My support is with you. I am available for you 24/7.”
Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026
