THE PTI has managed to get its way. At least for now, it has succeeded in having its man installed in the office of the provincial chief executive in KP.

There had been warnings aplenty following Sohail Afridi’s nomination. Almost as soon as his name was announced, a stream of regime-aligned personalities from both politics and the media had levelled a series of allegations against him, ranging from corruption to outright facilitation of terrorists. Some had gone so far as to claim he would never be elected.

This level of confidence appeared at odds with the fact that the PTI enjoys an overwhelming majority in the KP Assembly, even with its lawmakers technically rendered ‘independents’ by the Election Commission. There were also questions why a politician considered dangerous had been operating unchallenged by the state so far and why his alleged misdoings came to light only after Mr Afridi was named as a replacement for the chief minister preceding him. In other words, why did the centre appear keen on preventing him from taking office?

Even now, though some 90 members of the KP Assembly have voted him in, Mr Afridi’s future hangs in the balance. The PPP-appointed governor of the province, Faisal Karim Kundi, had ‘returned’ the resignation of the erstwhile chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, seeking confirmation from him in person on Wednesday evening. This was criticised as an undemocratic attempt to block the KP legislature from appointing a new chief executive. And though the voting went ahead anyway, Mr Kundi is still required to administer the oath to Mr Afridi. As they say, there is many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.

Regardless of how the KP Assembly has voted, there are some important people who seem to feel differently about Mr Afridi. In fact, the pattern has been seen in other instances as well: laws, rules and procedures can be set aside very swiftly once a decision has been made. On its part, the PTI could have shown greater maturity by not rushing the matter.

Mr Afridi is known for his confrontational rhetoric against what he sees as state excesses. The party seems to have been sending a deliberate message by installing him in the most important office that it controls. The message has been received. One wonders how it will be responded to.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025