(MENAFN) Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed his party to replace the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to official reports.

Salman Akram Raja, secretary general of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, announced the change following a meeting with Khan at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. Ali Amin Gandapur, who assumed the chief minister role after PTI’s decisive provincial election win last February, confirmed he would step down.

“The role of the chief minister was Imran Khan sahib’s amaanat (entrustment), and as per his order, I am returning his amaanat and submitting my resignation,” Gandapur said in a short statement posted on social media. The PTI echoed the announcement on its official account: “Ali Amin Gandapur has resigned as per Imran Khan’s directive.”

Sohail Afridi, a young legislator from the Khyber tribal district, has been named as the province’s new chief minister. Gandapur pledged to “fully” support and collaborate with his successor.

The decision follows recent tension within the party, after Gandapur accused Khan’s elder sister Aleema Khan of attempting to seize control “in connivance” with intelligence agencies.

Khan has been serving a 14-year sentence for corruption since August 2023 and faces multiple additional cases, ranging from corruption to terrorism, which he describes as “sham.”

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