PTI lawmakers from Mardan, Swabi lobbying for induction in KP cabinet: report

PESHAWAR:  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers from Mardan, Swabi, and Malakand in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province have started lobbying for induction in the provincial cabinet after the sacking of three senior ministers late last week, reported The News. 

On Monday, former KP CM and incumbent Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak had claimed a conspiracy against the provincial government had been foiled after KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan removed Atif Khan, Shahram Khan Tarakai and Shakeel Ahmad from the provincial cabinet. 

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A PTI MPA from Mardan told The News that a vacancy has been created in the cabinet from the district after the removal of Atif Khan, the senior minister for tourism, culture, archaeology and sports. "There had no chance for anyone from Mardan to be a minister," the MPA said.

“Now a vacancy is there and I and some other MPAs are aspirants to fill it,” the MPA added. Sources had earlier said that two other PTI MPAs, Iftikhar Mashwani and Abdul Salam Afridi, were opposed to Atif Khan and had celebrated his removal from the provincial cabinet. 

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According to the report in The News, these lawmakers would now be hoping that CM Mahmood Khan and Prime Minister Imran Khan would reward them for opposing a powerful party figure and minister who in their view eventually betrayed the PTI leadership.

Other PTI MPAs from Mardan are Tufail Anjum, Malik Shaukat, Zahir Shah Toru and Amir Farzand. A few of them were close to Atif Khan, and their chances of making it to the cabinet are slim. The eighth MPA from Mardan is Jamshed Mohmand, who belongs to the PML-N.

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In Swabi, the removal of Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai apparently shocked the Tarakai family, which has been dominating the politics in the district for the last many years. Apart from Shahram Tarakai who is an MPA, the family has many other politicians as well.

Shahram’s father Liaqat Tarakai is a senator; his uncle, Usman Tarakai is an MNA from Swabi; and his cousin Mohammad Ali Tarakai, is also an MPA. Shahram Tarakai’s sacking has created a vacancy in the cabinet from Swabi as well, according to the report. 

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National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser’s younger brother Aqibullah, who is an MPA, and other PTI MPAs, Rangez Ahmad and Abdul Karim, are desirous of being ministers. Abdul Karim is already an advisor to the chief minister on industries, the report said. 

Shakil Ahmad, the third minister to be de-notified on the directive of Prime Minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan, belongs to the Malakand district. He has been firmly in the anti-Pervez Khattak camp for the last few years.

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With Shakil Ahmad’s sacking, the other PTI MPA from Malakand district, Musavir Khan, would be aspiring to become a minister. He is a first-timer in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, though he won a difficult seat, defeating PPP’s Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, The News said.

It was being speculated that Atif Khan, Shahram Tarakai and Shakil Ahmad may be pardoned and taken back in the cabinet at a later stage, but that possibility has now receded as they came out openly against the party decision to expel them from the cabinet last week. 

Originally published in The News