K-P set for tumultuous Senate polls today

PTI's last-ditch bid to stall oath-taking fails; Governor swears in 25 reserved seat MPAs; Gandapur to challenge

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PESHAWAR:

After much ado, 25 opposition lawmakers elected on reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly took their oaths — not in the provincial legislature, which was adjourned earlier in the day due to lack of quorum, but at the Governor House on Sunday evening.

With the induction of these new MPAs, the K-P Assembly now finally stands fully constituted almost one and a half years after the February 8, 2024 general elections. The oath-taking of these MPAs has also paved the way for Senate elections for 11 seats that will be held at the provincial assembly today.

The contest includes 7 general seats, along with 2 seats each for women and technocrats, for which a total of 16 candidates are in the running.

The Senate elections, being conducted under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), will allow each MPA to cast three votes.

One of the ballot papers — the white one — will be for general seats. The green ballot paper will be for technocrat seats and the pink ballot paper will be for women seats

To win one of the 7 general seats, a candidate will need 19 votes. For the 4 seats reserved for women and technocrats, each candidate will require 49 votes to be successful.

The government and the opposition, through mutual consultation, have jointly fielded 11 candidates — 6 backed by the government and 5 by the opposition. In addition, five other candidates from the PTI are also contesting independently.

The K-P Assembly could not be fully constituted after the last year's elections due to a controversy over reserved seats, on which the ruling party of the province, the PTI, laid claim. The PTI, however, lost the legal battle for reserved seats on June 28.

Later, the ECP distributed the reserved seats for women and minority members among opposition parties — the PML-N, the PPP, the JUI-F, the ANP and the PTI-P.

These MPAs including 21 women and 4 minority members were scheduled to take oath in a specially requisitioned assembly session on Sunday. However, right after the start of the session, a ruling party member, Shair Ali Afridi, pointed out the lack of a quorum.

Opposition members raised a commotion and staged a protest with the newly elected women and minority representatives surrounding the speaker's dais and chanting slogans.

Leader of Opposition Dr Ibadullah Khan asked the speaker, Babar Saleem Swati, to administer oath to the MPAs, stating that the seats had been vacant for one and a half years.

Speaker Swati told him that a lack of quorum had now been identified. "Someone must cite a clause that allows me to continue the assembly proceedings," he added.

When PML-N member Sobia Shahid protested, her microphone was turned off. The speaker remarked that she was not allowed to speak as this was not a session for speeches.

Following this, the speaker ordered a headcount in the assembly.

Only 25 members were present in the house, prompting him to order bells to be rung for two minutes. However, the required number of members was not met. Consequently, the speaker adjourned the session until July 24, stating that the oath-taking ceremony would take place in the next session.

Earlier, the PTI parliamentary party held a meeting in which government members were instructed not to enter the hall and to boycott proceedings to prevent the oath-taking ceremony.

In a media briefing after the session, Dr Ibadullah Khan criticized the provincial government, saying, "For the past 12 years, the province has been governed by politically immature individuals.

Afterward, Dr Ibadullah Khan, along with opposition members, submitted a petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC), requesting the chief justice to nominate an appropriate person under Article 255(2) of the Constitution to administer the oath to the newly elected members on reserved seats.

Meanwhile, the ECP also approached the PHC chief justice, requesting him to appoint a person to administer the oath to the new MPA. K-P Chief Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah later authorized K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to take the oaths.

Later, on Sunday evening, a swearing-in ceremony was held at the Governor House in Peshawar where Governor Kundi, administered the oath to the 25 newly elected members under Article 65 and Article 255(2) of the Constitution and Rule 6 of the K-P Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, 1988.

The ceremony was attended by Federal Minister for SAFRON Engineer Amir Muqam, Leader of the Opposition Dr Ibadullah Khan, PPP Parliamentary Leader Ahmad Karim Kundi, ANP Parliamentary Leader Arbab Usman Khan and PML-N leader Murtaza Javed Abbasi along with several MPAs and leaders.

After administering the oath, the governor congratulated the newly sworn-in members. He also thanked the PHC chief justice for nominating him to this important constitutional responsibility.

Meanwhile, PTI's provincial government announced a challenge to the oath-taking of the MPAs in the PHC.

According to K-P Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel, Article 65 of the Constitution stipulates that members of the assembly must take their oath in the Assembly House. He stated that the speaker did not refuse to administer the oath; the session was adjourned due to lack of quorum.

He added that an assembly session is scheduled for July 24, and under such circumstances, the oath cannot be taken at the Governor House.

Article 255(2) of the Constitution uses the term "impracticable" or "impossible", and only if the chief minister or speaker refuses to administer the oath can the Chief Justice nominate someone for this responsibility, he said.

According to the AG, neither the CM nor the speaker refused to administer the oath, and a session had been called for that purpose. "The government is challenging the oath administered at the Governor House and that a formal petition will be submitted in the PHC today on behalf of the CM," he said.