By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has upended the political balance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly with a recent order reallocating reserved seats, leading to a reshuffling of opposition party positions just days before crucial Senate elections.
The move, which follows a Supreme Court ruling and a Peshawar High Court decision, has left the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with fewer seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has gained ground.
The ECP’s notifications, issued on July 15, reduced the JUI-F’s reserved seats by two and the PPP’s by one, while allocating an additional seat to the PML-N. Despite these changes, lawmakers backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have maintained their dominant position with 92 members in the 125-seat assembly.
The opposition, however, has seen internal shifts: the JUI-F and PML-N now each hold 17 seats, while the PPP has 10. The Awami National Party (ANP) and PTI-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) each retain three seats.
The reallocation stems from a June 27 Supreme Court judgment by its constitutional bench, which declared the PTI ineligible for reserved seats in both national and provincial assemblies. This decision set off a chain of legal and electoral maneuvers, culminating in the Peshawar High Court’s annulment last week of the original distribution of reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal, struck down the ECP’s initial allocations, declaring announcements regarding seats for women and minorities null and void. The court ordered the commission to redistribute the seats within 10 days, a directive now met with the latest notifications.
The ECP’s adjustments reflect the shifting fortunes of the opposition parties. Before the July 15 order, the JUI-F held 10 seats reserved for women and two for non-Muslims, based on its seven general seats from the 2024 elections. The PPP had six women’s seats and one non-Muslim seat, while the PML-N had eight women’s seats and one non-Muslim seat, calculated initially on six general seats.
The recalibration, prompted by the PML-N’s entitlement to seats based on seven general seats, has reshaped the assembly’s composition. Now, the JUI-F and PML-N each boast seven general seats, nine women’s seats, and one non-Muslim seat, while the PPP holds four general seats, five women’s seats, and one non-Muslim seat. The ANP and PTI-P each have two general seats and one women’s seat.
Two reserved seats remain in limbo: one of the 26 seats for women will be decided by a draw between the ANP and PTI-P, and a non-Muslim seat will be settled similarly between the JUI-F and PML-N.
The opposition’s total strength stands at 52 lawmakers, up from 27 before the Supreme Court’s verdict, a shift that now empowers them to requisition an assembly session once their newly elected members are sworn in.
The timing of these changes has thrown a wrench into preparations for the July 21 Senate elections. On Wednesday, the ECP made a desperate appeal to the Peshawar High Court, requesting the appointment of an official to administer oaths to the newly notified members on reserved seats.
In a letter to the court’s registrar, the commission warned that the electoral college remains incomplete with the Senate polls just days away. “The conduct of the Senate election and the administration of oath to the returned candidates are constitutional imperatives,” the letter stated, citing Articles 219(b) and 224(3) of the Constitution and Section 107 of the Elections Act, 2017.
The ECP had previously urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker, the governor, and Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to facilitate the oath-taking process, to no avail. Invoking Article 255(2) of the Constitution, the commission asked the high court chief justice to appoint someone to administer the oaths before polling day.
Earlier this week, ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan met with the governor and chief minister, reiterating that the notified members cannot participate in assembly sessions or vote in the Senate elections until sworn in. “The electoral body is under a constitutional obligation to conduct the Senate elections in KP,” Khan said, noting the delay in oath-taking has left the process stalled.
The speaker had informed the ECP on July 4 that no assembly session was underway, and he lacked the authority to call one. Khan countered that Article 109 of the Constitution grants the governor discretionary power to summon a session, pressing for immediate action.
As the ECP scrambles to complete the electoral college, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and opposition are locked in high-stakes talks to shape the Senate elections. Late-night negotiations between Wednesday and Thursday yielded a tentative deal: a 6-5 formula, with the PTI securing six seats and the opposition five.
Newspapers reported that both sides are eager to avoid a contested vote, hoping to minimize political risks in an already volatile landscape. Chief Minister Gandapur faces the delicate task of persuading other PTI candidates to withdraw from the race, amid infighting over ticket allocations. The opposition, meanwhile, has rallied around a joint strategy, pushing for its candidates to be elected unopposed.
“There is near consensus on holding unopposed elections,” Dawn newspaper, quoting a source, reported. A final round of negotiations is set for Thursday, with PTI and opposition leaders expected to address the public in a press conference afterward.
The stakes are clear: if no deal is reached, a contested vote could produce an unpredictable outcome. The opposition’s bolstered numbers, 52 lawmakers, give it newfound leverage, while the PTI’s 92 members ensure its dominance in the assembly. Yet, internal discord within the PTI threatens to upend the fragile agreement.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
