The resignation of Ali Amin Gandapur as Khaiber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister is being ascribed by many to his having upset both Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, and his sister, Aleema Khan. However, the real cause of the removal is probably his failure to spring PTI Rehbar Imran Khan from jail. It is to be noted that Mr Gandapur was perhaps setting himself up for removal, for his efforts to get Mr Khan released seem to have been something he volunteered to do rather than a task imposed on him. His attempts at negotiations with the establishment, his attempts to lead rallies, all fizzled out last October, when a crowd of demonstrators was dispersed in Islamabad, and Mr Gandapur was widely accused of having run away, abandoning the party workers to their fate. Mr Gandapur’s opposition to any further operation in KP was a black mark against him for the establishment, and did not help him as he presided over the province descending into a spiral of lawlessness.
It is that lawlessness which provided Mr Khan the grounds for demanding Mr Gandapur’s resignation. However, the fate of Mr Gandapur means that Mr Sohail Afridi, the new CM, is accepting a poisoned chalice. Mr Gandapur’s two previous predecessors, Mr Pervez Khattak and Mr Mahmood Khan, are no longer in the party. Mr Afridi begins with the party office separated from the executive, an indignity Mr Gandapur had undergone in January. It might be said that Mr Gandapur had done well to pull along so long. However, it does appear that the party has a problem in its stronghold. It has held office there now for 12 years, having won three elections on the trot. It is possible to see it as a victim of its own success, but perhaps now that it has selected a CM who has been involved in politics, all of it in the PTI. Having been a student leader, he graduated to the PTI’s Youth Wing, and is a first-time MPA, and is also the first MPA from the former tribal areas to become CM.
The tribal areas, and the militancy there represent a challenge. The news of Mr Gandapur’s sacking came the same day as an intelligence-based operation in Orakzai Agency proved one of the deadliest clashes in Pakistan’s anti-militancy battle, with a lieutenant-colonel and a major among 11 Armymen martyred, with 19 terrorists killed. Apart from other administrative and developmental issues, the province needs peace. Can Mr Afridi deliver it? The coming days will tell.
