PESHAWAR: Haji Ghulam Ali has been sworn in as the new Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The JUI-F stalwart took oath of office in a ceremony held at the Governor House. Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Qaiser Rashid Khan administered oath to the new governor.

Earlier today, President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Haji Ghulam Ali as the governor. According to a statement from the President’s Office, Alvi accorded his approval based on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice in accordance with Article 101 (1) of the Constitution.

The province had been without a permanent governor for the past eight months after Shah Farman resigned earlier in April after the new government come to power in April.

Speaker KP Assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani had been serving as the acting governor, whereas Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan was made the speaker of the provincial assembly.

Haji Ghulam Ali belongs to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). He has previously served as a senator from March 2009 to March 2015.

He remained member of KP’s Board of Investment and Trade from September 2012 to September 2015. He also served as Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting from 2009 to 2012.

Haji Ghulam Ali had earlier served as the mayor of Peshawar and his son Zubair Ali was elected as the mayor of the provincial capital in local body elections held last December.

The JUI-F leader — who is the father of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s son-in-law Fayaz Ali — was also awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2012.