PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtun­khwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Saturday reiterated that he wouldn’t hesitate for even a moment to dissolve the provincial assembly as and when he was instructed by his party chairman Imran Khan to do so.

“I have always said I am a humble worker of (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. I owe this office to him. I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute if he asks me to dissolve the provincial assembly,” Chief Minister Khan said.

He rebutted statements in the news media attributed to him that he would send a summary seeking dissolution of the KP Assembly to the governor on Saturday night.

“This is not true,” he told Dawn. “What I said was that we are all waiting for the notification of the dissolution of Punjab Assembly. We will initiate the process [in KP] when the chairman asks us to do so.”

“The moment I move the summary, I will WhatsApp its image to you all,” the chief minister said while addressing the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected body of the Peshawar Press Club.

He mocked those who claimed he was in Lahore for consultations. “What is there to consult? How can I say ‘no’ to Imran Khan?” he questioned. “The moment I get a nod from Imran Khan, the provincial assembly will cease to exist.”

Cabinet insiders say they were still hoping the party chairman would heed their suggestion to keep the KP government intact. “It is up to him now to take the final call,” a cabinet member said.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2023