Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor accepts resignation of 25 members of interim cabinet

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 12 : Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on Friday accepted the resignations of 25 members of the province's interim cabinet in line with the directives issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan-based The News International reported. 
Haji Ghulam Ali's decision comes after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's interim Chief Minister Azam Khan asked his cabinet members to tender their resignation after receiving a letter from the ECP regarding the politically affiliated people in the cabinet.
Earlier in July, the ECP instructed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa interim Chief Minister to immediately "denotify" ministers, advisers and special assistants "involved in politics." According to the notification, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor accepted the resignation of 14 ministers and 11 advisers and special assistants, The News International reported. 
Former caretaker ministers Shahid Khattak and Adnan Jalil have already submitted their resignations from their posts. On Thursday, former provincial information minister Firdous Jamal Shah said that interim CM Azam Khan had decided to de-notify his ministers, according to The News International report. 
Shah said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's interim CM had invited the ministers for tea and asked them for their resignations. He further said that those who do not submit their resignations would then be de-notified.
In the letter issued in July, the electoral body briefed the interim CM on Article 218(3) and the role the caretaker setup plays in carrying out the elections.
The secretary in the letter said, "The caretaker government including cabinet members, advisers, special assistants and other relevant functionaries can only provide an objective environment if they do not involve themselves in politics and election campaigns in violation of provisions of Section 230 (1)(d) and 2(g) of the Elections Act, 2017." 
The ECP expressed regret that it had noticed that some cabinet members were "appointed on the basis of political affiliations." It also gave the example of Shahid Khattak, the former interim transport minister, who resigned after he was found indulging in "political activities."
The ECP said that the "attitude" of some cabinet members was "against the very spirit" of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's caretaker government which has been mentioned in the Constitution and the Elections Act 2017, The News International reported. 
Multiple parties have complained regarding the interim setup in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Most of the caretaker cabinet members are either affiliated with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) or their appointees, The News International reported. Earlier in July, Shahid Khan Khattak had to submit his resignation after he faced criticism when he addressed a public meeting in the Nowshera district.