K-P Senate elections face delay threat

Governor's rule in K-P could postpone March 2027 elections

PESHAWAR:

The upcoming Senate elections scheduled for March 2027 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa face a serious threat of postponement if Governor's Rule remains in force, raising the prospect of a repeat of the 2024 delay that left the Upper House incomplete and the province under-represented.

Senate polls are expected to take place in the first week of March next year. This time, 12 seats from K-P, including one minority seat, will fall vacant. However, the imposition of emergency in 12 districts and Governor's Rule across the remaining 26 districts of the province on 11 October 2026 has cast a shadow over the exercise. Officials indicate that Governor's Rule could continue for up to six months, potentially lasting until 10 April 2027. In that scenario, the March elections would not be held on schedule and would have to be deferred.

A similar situation occurred in 2024, when the incomplete status of the K-P Assembly led to the postponement of Senate elections. Those polls were finally held in July 2025 after a 16-month delay, leaving the Senate incomplete and K-P's representation partial for an extended period. The province now risks facing the same problem once again.

In March 2024, elections were due on 11 Senate seats from K-P. The Election Commission of Pakistan deferred them because of disputes over reserved seats and related court cases. The polls eventually took place on 21 July 2025 at the Jirga Hall in Peshawar, where 145 members of the provincial assembly cast their votes.

According to unofficial and non-final results at the time, seats were distributed under a formula agreed between PTI-backed independent candidates and opposition parties. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf secured six seats, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam two, Pakistan Peoples Party two, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz one.

Successful candidates included, on the seven general seats: Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed Khan, Mirza Muhammad Afridi and Noorul Haq Qadri (PTI-backed), Attaul Haq Darwesh (JUI-F), Muhammad Talha Mahmood (PPP) and Niaz Ahmed (PML-N). On the two technocrat seats: Azam Khan Swati (PTI) and Dilawar Khan (JUI). On the two women's seats: Rubina Naz (PTI) and Rubina Khalid (PPP).

Senate elections in the rest of the country, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Islamabad, were completed on 2 April 2024 after half the senators completed their six-year terms. In K-P, however, the ECP delayed the polls because members elected on reserved seats had not taken the oath. After the 2024 general elections, PTI-backed independents joined the Sunni Ittehad Council to claim reserved seats. The ECP refused to allocate those seats to the council and instead allotted them to other opposition parties. Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati declined to administer the oath to the opposition members until a final court decision. As a result, the assembly lacked a complete quorum, prompting the ECP to halt the Senate elections.

The reserved-seats dispute remained in litigation for a prolonged period. On 26 March 2025, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the Election Commission's decision. Reserved-seat members finally took the oath on 20 July 2025, completing the assembly's quorum. The ECP then fixed 21 July 2025 as the new polling date.

In the run-up to the 2025 K-P Senate elections, reports of political manoeuvring and alleged horse-trading involving large sums of money circulated widely. To avoid controversy, the PTI-led government and opposition parties reached a written political understanding shortly before polling. Members voted according to the agreed formula, producing results that matched expectations. PTI-backed independents won six seats while the opposition alliance of PPP, JUI-F and PML-N collectively secured five.

With the completion of that process, K-P's representation in the Senate was restored and the Upper House became fully constituted.

Twelve senators from K-P are due to complete their six-year constitutional terms and retire in March 2027. They include, on the seven general seats: Faisal Saleem Rahman, Liaquat Khan Tarakai, Mohsin Aziz, Zeeshan Khanzada and Syed Shibli Faraz (PTI), Maulana Attaur Rahman (JUI) and Hidayatullah Khan (ANP). On the two technocrat/ulema seats: Muhammad Humayun Mohmand and Dost Muhammad Khan (PTI). On the two women's seats: Falak Naz and Mashal Yousafzai (PTI; the latter elected in place of Sania Nishtar). On the minority seat: Gurdeep Singh (PTI).

If Governor's Rule continues into the spring of 2027, the province once again faces the possibility of delayed Senate elections and incomplete representation in the Upper House of Parliament.