PESHAWAR: Veteran politician, Engineer Shaukatullah Khan took oath as the new Governor Khyber Pakthunkhwa here at Governor House on Sunday.

Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan administered the oath of the newly appointed governor during a ceremony held here at the lawn of Governor House.

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhuntunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Spokesperson to the President, Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar, Speaker Khyber Pakthunkhwa Assembly, Kirmatullah Khan, Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and Federal Minister for Communications Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan attended the function.

Provincial Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Excise and Taxation Minister Liaquat Shabab, Senator Ghulam Ali, Senator Haji Adeel, senators, members national assemblies, provincial ministers, ex-parliamentarians, bureaucrats, civil officers, academicians, tribal elders and maliks and elites of the city attended the oath taking ceremony.

“My first priority as governor is to establish durable peace and improve the law and order situation in Fata and provide a congenial atmosphere for the  people during the general election,” he said.

Shaukatullah said that efforts would be made to resolve major problems of the province through dialogue.

He said tribal people and their representatives would be taken on board on all important issues and decisions.

The governor said that the development process in Fata would be accelerated and efforts would be made to complete the ongoing projects on time.

He said the present government has already introduced positive reforms in frontier crimes regulations and that all decisions would be taken in the national interest.

He congratulated tribal elders and political parties for their support.

President Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, had appointed Engineer Shaukatullah Khan as the new Governor Khyber Pakthunkhwa province, replacing veteran Barrister Masood Kausar due to health problems.