Top three names for chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Choosing the right person to steer the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has become quite the project for the incoming Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. Its party chief, and Prime Minister-candidate, Imran Khan, is reportedly mediating between two groups with separate preferences, one of which is lead by the former chief minister, Pervez Khattak.

Names are dropped and picked out of a hat on a near-daily basis. For now, the field appears to be wide open and it could reward the most non-controversial candidate.

Geo.tv has narrowed down the list of contenders:

Mahmood Khan

The former provincial minister of sports, culture and tourism, Mahmood Khan’s stock seems to be rising. Hailing from Swat, the 46-year-old served as a Nazim before being elected to the provincial assembly in 2013 on a PTI ticket. Thereafter, he was quickly inducted into the cabinet as the minister of sports, a position he had to relinquish due to charges of misusing discretionary funds. While an inquiry report later exonerated the minister, the Peshawar High Court ordered for his removal. However, in 2016, he was brought back into the provincial cabinet as the minister for home and tribal affairs.

Last month, he won with over 25,000 votes from PK-9 in Swat.

Asad Qaiser

He is an old loyalist. When few believed the PTI could come into power, Qaiser became part of Imran Khan’s political party in the late 90s as a worker. From there on, he quickly rose within the party ranks and in 2013, just before the general election, was appointed the president of the PTI in the province. After securing a win in the last polls, he was appointed as the speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

This year, he emerged victorious again from his hometown in Swabi, from the PK-44 constituency with over 31,000 votes.

Atif Khan

Khan, the former minister of education in KP, is not a new entrant on the list. Since the election concluded, his name has repeatedly appeared for the top slot of provincial chief minister. Belonging to Mardan, he contested his first election in 2013 and was successful. After his name was pitched for chief minister, it faced much resistance from one group within the PTI. However, despite the uproar, the party chief has yet to turn the page on his nomination.

On July 25, he picked up PK-50 (Mardan) with over 35,000 votes.

With reporting by Mehmood Jan Babar