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.
The chief minister’s whereabouts had been unknown since his detention on Saturday from KP House in Islamabad. Earlier in the evening, the provincial assembly passed a resolution to present the chief minister within 24 hours.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser had accused the government of “abducting” Gandapur from KP House in Islamabad, warning his party would 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.”
KP Assembly session
The session finally started after a delay of five hours, with KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati in the chair. Earlier, the session had been rescheduled to begin at 2pm.
Meanwhile, around 300 PTI supporters reached the KP Assembly and started sloganeering and demanding Gandapur’s “release.” Some of them protested outside the building, while others chanted slogans from the public gallery.
Speaker Swati began the session by requesting that PTI workers in the gallery refrain from sloganeering and hooting, given the context of the meeting.
“It is very important to discuss the events of the last two days with great attention,” he said. “We have convened this session to resolve a serious issue. There will be no sloganeering and members from both sides will speak and be heard.”
He added that the police “attacked” the KP house and allegedly broke the doors of the CM and speakers’ rooms, causing damage.
“They (police) misbehaved with the families of parliamentarians and used rubber bullets and shells,” he said.
KP Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi acknowledged that an “unprecedented” event had taken place in the last two days, putting forward a resolution requesting that Gandapur be presented within 24 hours. The resolution was unanimously passed.
“The role of the leader of the house is final and essential,” Afridi said. “The federal interior minister and KP governor allegedly abducted the CM. The Assembly demands that the speaker request a report from law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and federal government representatives on the CM’s disappearance.”
The speaker directed that the KP Chief Secretary, KP inspector general of police (IGP) and the chief minister’s principal secretary appear in the assembly tomorrow (Monday) for an in-person briefing.
“We need to know the whereabouts of the KP chief minister as well as a briefing on the events within KP House,” he said. “They will deliver this briefing in this chamber.”
Meanwhile, PTI MPA Dr Amjad Ali recounted the events of the last 48 hours.
“On Friday, on the orders of Imran Khan, the PTI led a peaceful rally towards Islamabad. Our peaceful protest led by CM Gandapur left for Islamabad. All the (security) agencies knew that our people were not armed with illegal weapons that warranted any action,” he maintained.
“Blockades were put up at Attock and motorways, which have been made with the taxpayers’ money, were dug up or blocked with containers.”
He added that when the protesters crossed Attock Bridge, they shelled them with tear gas and live rounds.
“Many were injured, our medical teams administered first aid,” Amjad said. “Throughout the night until 8:30am, they were shelled with tear gas at Burhan Interchange as if they were terrorists.
“KP House is the only base we have in Islamabad, it is as important as GHQ or Coprs Commander House is to the establishment,” Amjad said.
“The Islamabad police and Rangers illegally raided KP House and detained the KP CM who is still missing,” the MPA said that the illegal detention of a sitting chief executive was unprecedented. “Nothing like this has ever happened in our history.”
Govt denies Gandapur’s ‘arrest’
On the other hand, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi refuted rumours about Gandapur’s alleged arrest, stating that he was neither in police nor any other institution’s custody. He also said that the government had “evidence of the PTI leader running from his residence.”
“I don’t know why he ran and for what reason,” the interior minister said today while speaking to the media in Islamabad.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said that the CM was nowhere to be found and even the PTI workers were looking for their leader.
“A drama is being created in the provincial assembly,” Kundi said while speaking in Islamabad, adding that given there are cameras everywhere, there must be some video evidence of the CM’s alleged “abduction”.
“Since yesterday, he has gone into self-hiding. He is enjoying it,” he said.
PTI’s political committee, while criticising the “disappearance” of the chief minister, warned that there would be “serious repercussions” if Gandapur was arrested.
The KP CM, according to Barrister Saif, is on bail until October 25.
“If arrested, it will be an insult to the mandate of the people of KP, the fake government will have to answer for such unconstitutional and illegal actions,” Saif continued in his X post.
Despite Barrister Saif’s statement that Gandapur had not been “formally” detained, PTI’s leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, persisted in his claim that Gandapur had been “arrested” from KP House.
PTI to continue protests
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan earlier informed the media that the protest was initially planned for one day, but due to the crackdown on demonstrators, the PTI had decided to extend its protest.
Former National Assembly speaker and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser also told Dawn that PTI’s political committee had decided to continue the protest until they received a clear directive from Imran Khan to end it.
Over the last weekend, an amount of Rs54 million along with a force of 6,000 personnel, comprising police, Rangers and FC, was used to counter the PTI’s protest and stop them from entering the capital and reaching the D-Chowk on Jinnah Avenue, police officers told Dawn.
On Saturday, PML-N expressed frustration over the state’s failure to classify PTI as a “terrorist organisation” in the face of its “unending protests”, urging swift action before it becomes too late.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court has ordered the government to restore normalcy in the city and designate a location for PTI to hold its protest.
