PTI says Sohail Afridi remains KP chief minister

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said on Thursday that Sohail Afridi remains chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, issuing a notification from its central secretariat that the party described as being for the "purpose of clarity and emphasis", Dawn reported.

According to Dawn, the party also ruled out any move within its ranks to consider an alternative candidate for the office. Dunya News reported that the notification bars PTI members from discussing any change of the provincial chief minister.

Afridi has not been seen since the centre imposed governor's rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11. On the same day, a federal minister confirmed that the chief minister and some members of his cabinet were in preventative custody.

Neither report named the federal minister, said where Afridi is being held, or set out his legal status or the terms of his custody. Neither report said whether the party's notification addressed his whereabouts or when he might return to the province, and neither carried any reaction from the federal government to the PTI statement.

Dawn reported that the reaffirmation of support for Afridi came amid internal doubts within the party over the arrangement. The notification was issued by the PTI's central secretariat, the party's central organisational office, rather than by its provincial chapter.

Governor's rule places the province's executive authority in the hands of the governor and suspends its elected government, leaving a chief minister without the powers of the office even where the title is retained.

The PTI's statement is the party's firmest public position on the status of the provincial leadership since governor's rule took effect. It does not resolve the question of who is running the province's administration day to day, which neither report addressed.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the PTI's largest stronghold and the only province it controlled outright before the centre's move; the fate of its chief minister carries weight well beyond Peshawar, shaping how the party's provincial machine and its members of the national and provincial assemblies operate in the months ahead.