Amir Haidar Khan Hoti is the new Chief Minister of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Will this well-educated and secular young man, who has become the 19th Chief Minister since 1947 be able to bring peace and stability to one of the most troubled provinces of Pakistan?

The challenges facing the NWFP are gargantuan. The primary challenge for the new Chief Minister is to establish a stable peace in the province. There are two main threats here. First, is that of the presence of al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the FATA and also in the settled districts of NWFP, especially those bordering the tribal belt. From Dera Ismail Khan to Mardan, most of the settled districts of the NWFP bordering the FATA have been witnessing the expansion of militant attacks. Killings, abductions and radical fatwas including bans on music and dance have become a regular phenomenon in these border districts over the last few years.

The second source of threat to a stable peace comes from those Pashtuns in the NWFP, who support the al Qaeda and Taliban. Widely referred to as 'local Taliban,' they are no more limited to the FATA; there have been numerous incidents in which these local Taliban from the settled districts of the NWFP worked in tandem with the Taliban and al Qaeda. The fact that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still at large somewhere in this region, despite the War on Terror entering its seventh year, highlights the state's inability to deal with non-state actors. Combined together - al Qaeda, Taliban and their local supporters pose the biggest challenge to the new Chief Minister.

The next challenge for the new Chief Minister, ironically, comes from Islamabad and the US. The policies of the US and that of Pakistan military in the FATA will have a direct impact on peace and stability in the NWFP. The US has been repeatedly engaged in cross-border pursuits as a part of its larger war against terrorism. The American pressure on Pakistan's military to deliver has also been significant, though it remains ineffective until today to control the situation in the FATA. The result has been the emergence and consolidation of anti-American and anti-Islamabad sentiments amongst the Pashtuns across the Durand Line. Haidar Khan Hoti is unlikely to have any control over the policies of the Pakistan military and the US in FATA while their fallout is likely to impact his policies in brining peace and stability to the province.

The next major challenge emanates from what the Awami National Party (ANP) to which Hoti belongs has been advocating as a way forward - speaking to the militants. Hoti himself has spoken on the same lines and is convinced a dialogue with the militants would bring peace and stability. Such a strategy is loaded with risks and dangers. Since 2002, Islamabad has entered into three such agreements with the militants and all of them have failed miserably.

The major issue here is not whether or not to enter into a dialogue with the militants, but of what to speak about? The militants have repeatedly emphasized that they would not surrender their weapons. Though, the militants have agreed not to use Pakistan's territory as a base for cross-border terrorism, they have never been serious in implementing the promise. Neither are the 'foreign' militants willing to leave, nor are those who support the former in the tribal areas keen on forcing them to leave. It is unlikely that Hoti will be able to achieve something spectacular by speaking to the militants.

However, Haidar Khan Hoti has his own strengths and the situation is not hopeless. He belongs to the ANP, which has won the provincial assembly elections along with the PPP and has formed the government. The fact that the ANP is a part of the coalition at the national level led by the PPP and that the latter is supporting the former in NWFP provincial assembly, are major strengths for Hoti. The PPP in Islamabad needs to take into account the sensitivities of its partner in Peshawar.

Second, Hoti, while young comes from a politically influential family, like the new Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gillani. Hoti is a fourth-generation political leader, being a great-grandson of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan on his mother's side. His father and grandfather also belong to a 'Who's Who' list of Frontier politics. Consider this - Hoti's maternal grandfather is Khan Abdul Wali Khan and paternal grandfather, Amir Muhammad Khan Hoti. His father - Azam Khan Hoti was a federal minister; and Asfandyar Wali Khan, the leader of ANP is Hoti's uncle.

Educated in Aitchenson College, Lahore and Edwards College, Peshawar, Haidar Khan Hoti is liberal, democratic and secular, something that the Frontier has been lacking in its leaders in the last few years. All the best, Hoti!