Session delay puts oath-taking in limbo

The swearing-in of 25 new members on reserved seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly has been delayed following the Speaker's decision to postpone the assembly session, despite a clear Supreme Court directive. The matter now appears headed back to the courts.

Sources told The Express Tribune the opposition currently holds 27 seats in the K-P Assembly. If the government fails to convene the session, opposition parties are likely to seek legal recourse once again. A similar scenario had unfolded after the 2024 general elections, when 21 women's seats and four minority seats originally allocated to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had been redistributed among other parties. At the time, the Speaker's refusal to summon the assembly had led to litigation that had eventually reached the Supreme Court.

In light of the Court's latest constitutional bench ruling, 25 new members — 21 women and four minorities — are now set to take oath. Currently, the 145-member house has 120 sitting members. Following the redistribution, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) each has seven members, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has four, and the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) have two members each.

It is expected that out of the 21 reserved seats for women, the PML-N and JUI-F will receive seven each, PPP four, and ANP and PTI-P one each. The final decision on the remaining seat will be made by the Election Commission of Pakistan. As for the four minority seats, two are expected to go to the PML-N and two to the JUI-F.

On the other hand, K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Provincial Assembly Opposition Leader Dr Ibadullah have strongly criticized the indefinite postponement of the K-P Assembly session by the provincial government, following the Supreme Court's verdict on reserved seats.

In a joint statement issued after their meeting, both leaders termed the move a violation of the Supreme Court's decision and an attempt to avoid compliance.

They expressed deep concern over the government's refusal to convene the Assembly and called it a deliberate rejection of the apex court's ruling on the reserved seats matter.

The two leaders also condemned the provincial government's handling of the recent Swat tragedy, labelling it a result of gross negligence and administrative failure. They demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, holding him personally responsible for the deaths of tourists who had drowned during a visit. They noted that since the Chief Minister had retained the tourism portfolio, he could not escape accountability by suspending district officials and rescue personnel.