K-P speaker stirs fresh oath row
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati has said the oath administered by K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to members on 25 reserved seats was unconstitutional and the MPAs will have to take fresh oaths today (August 25).
"A fresh oath, under the Constitution and law, will be taken tomorrow (Monday, August 25) during the assembly session," Swati told reporters on Sunday after a review meeting on the recent rains and floods in the provincial capital.
He said administering the oath to assembly members is the speaker's prerogative, not the governor's.
After much ado, 25 opposition lawmakers elected on reserved seats in the K-P Assembly on July 20 took their oathsnot in the provincial legislature, whose sitting was adjourned earlier in the day due to lack of a quorum, but in the Governor House on Sunday evening.
These MPAs including 21 women and 4 minority members were scheduled to take oath in a specially requisitioned assembly session on July 20. However, right after the start of the session, a ruling party member, Shair Ali Afridi, pointed out the lack of a quorum.
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.
Afterward, Leader of Opposition Dr Ibadullah Khan 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.
Meanwhile, the MPAs elected on reserved seats have decided not to retake the oath of assembly membership today. For this purpose, the opposition leader has convened a meeting of opposition parties in the assembly at 12 noon.
According to opposition sources, the 25 members had already taken their oath on July 20, so there is no reason to repeat it. They said that even if the speaker asks for a fresh oath, no member will comply.