In a surprise turn of events, “missing” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday resurfaced and entered the KP Assembly chamber after the PTI demanded he be produced within 24 hours.
Gandapur was greeted with cheers and applause as he entered the building.
Earlier in the evening, the provincial assembly passed a resolution to present the chief minister within 24 hours.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser had earlier accused the government of “abducting” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur from KP House in Islamabad, warning that if he is not produced within 24 hours, his party will stage a nationwide protest.
His statement came ahead of the emergency KP Assembly session, initially rescheduled for 2pm today, but delayed due to Gandapur’s uncertain whereabouts.
“If the KP chief minister is not produced within 24 hours, the PTI will stage a nationwide protest,” Qaiser warned while speaking to reporters outside the KP Assembly.
“We categorically say that this is not an attack on Gandapur, but on the whole country. If it has happened to the PTI, it will happen to you, too as not even the chief executive of a province is safe.”
Qaiser said that according to the information received by his party, Gandapur had been “abducted from KP House”, as evidenced by the destruction inside the building.
He claimed that over 1,000 PTI workers had so far been arrested.
“We do not want anarchy, we want to peacefully protest, and exercise our rights,” Qaiser maintained. “The PTI would continue to protest until its last breath and with no limits as protesting was a constitutional and legal right”.
A large number of protesters had reached Islamabad yesterday as PTI held a demonstration in response to its incarcerated founder, Imran Khan’s, call for a “peaceful protest”.
Different groups of protestors, including the caravan of CM Gandapur entered the capital from Taxila near Nicholson Monument after breaching the police cordon.
The CM then left the party workers in Islamabad and moved to the KP House from where he “disappeared,” sparking rumours about his arrest.
PTI leaders issued conflicting statements regarding the news of the alleged arrest, while some maintained he was “detained”, KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Saif stated on X that the CM had not been “formally arrested”. He, however, added that a “heavy contingent of Rangers and police are present at the KP House.”
