Afridi surpassed the required 73 votes required to win the election for the top office.

The provincial assembly session, held in Peshawar to elect the new leader of the house, was chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.

At the start of the session, outgoing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur addressed the assembly, while the opposition members walked out, announcing a boycott of the electoral process.

In his speech, Gandapur said he had already resigned as the chief minister and did not want the democratic process to be turned into a farce.

“I congratulate Sohail Afridi in advance; he will be the new chief minister and will have full support,” he stated.

Referring to his tenure, Gandapur said, “We fought fascism and emerged successful. Whatever we achieved in 18 months is on record — Rs280 billion remains in the provincial treasury. My performance, good or bad, is before everyone.”

He added that his government made every effort to tackle terrorism and economic challenges and urged the federal government to focus on law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Muslims across the world are being oppressed; our struggle for Pakistan will continue,” Gandapur affirmed.