PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has devised a strategy to surprise opposition parties in the upcoming Senate elections. Polling for 11 Senate seats is scheduled to be held on July 21 in the hall of the provincial assembly.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the elections will be held based on the final list of candidates issued on March 27, 2024, and no new nomination papers will be called. Due to the change in party position within the provincial assembly, PTI is expected to lose at least three seats.
Highly reliable sources reveal that PTI has decided not to administer oaths to members elected on reserved seats in order to prevent them from voting in the Senate elections. To achieve this, the provincial assembly session will not be convened, and as a result, these members will be unable to cast their votes.
PTI aims to conduct the elections with the previously notified members of the house, barring new members from entering the assembly, as was done in the past. Meanwhile, opposition parties are seeking legal advice to compel the summoning of the assembly session.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi, while speaking to The News, said that the opposition parties have decided to approach the Peshawar High Court (PHC). A writ petition will be filed today, making the government and the chief minister respondents in the case. He said that the PHC will be requested to direct the provincial government to convene the assembly session and administer the oath to the newly elected members.
Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Babar Saleem, told this correspondent that he has no role in convening the assembly session. However, in light of the Election Commission’s directives, the Jirga Hall (old assembly hall) of the provincial assembly has been designated as the polling station.
He added that there is no need to call a session or pass a resolution to use the Jirga Hall for this purpose. Sources indicate that if the session is not convened in time and the women elected on reserved seats are not sworn in, the Senate elections scheduled for July 21 may once again be postponed. Officials say it is essential to administer oaths to the newly elected women members before the Senate elections. Failure to comply with court orders regarding the oath-taking process could subject the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to both constitutional and political challenges.
Opposition leaders argue that the continued delay in administering oaths, despite clear court rulings, is a violation of both the constitution and democratic principles. They warn that the matter has reached a critical point where any further delay is unacceptable.
It is worth noting that on March 28, 2024, the Election Commission of Pakistan, in a seven-page verdict, stated that the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are conditional on the oath-taking of members elected on reserved seats. The Commission warned that if these members are not sworn in, the Senate polls could be postponed.
The Commission directed the Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to immediately implement the decision of the Peshawar High Court. A five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and comprising members Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Hassan Bharwana, and Justice (R) Ikram Ullah Khan, issued the verdict on a petition regarding the non-administration of oaths to newly elected members on reserved seats.
The decision emphasised that the right to vote is fundamental and cannot be denied to any voter. The ECP made it clear that it holds the authority to issue such directives and take consequential actions to ensure that elections are conducted with honesty, fairness, transparency, and in accordance with the law.
The verdict further stated that if the directives issued under Article 218(3) of the Constitution and Sections 4(1) and 8(c) of the Elections Act are not followed, the Commission may postpone the Senate election process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until the newly elected members, including the petitioners, are administered their oaths.
