File photo of KP C.M. Ali Amin Gandapur
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Tuesday reacted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponing Senate elections in the province by maintaining the provincial government will not permit the lawmakers elected on reserved seats to take oath of office.
“Those who became members illegally will not be allowed to take oath,” he told journalists outside the KP Assembly. “We will not compromise on our constitutional right,” he said, lamenting that the allocation of reserved seats to opposition parties was part of a pattern of constitutional violations.
Noting the party had already filed a review petition against the Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s orders to administer oath, he reiterated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would resist the move and would not back down from its stance. The party, he added, would “strongly protest” against any attempt to administer oath to the MPAs-elect on reserved seats.
According to Gandapur, the PTI would convene a parliamentary party meeting in the evening during which a resolution would be passed regarding its future course of action.
Earlier, the ECP postponed Senate elections in KP on a petition filed by opposition members, who demanded the polls only take place after the reserved members were administered oath of office. The petition, filed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Ahmad Karim Kundi, contended that 25 of his party’s members had yet to be sworn-in in the KP Assembly.
KP Assembly Opposition leader Ibadullah Khan, meanwhile, slammed Gandapur, lamenting that the PTI neither obeyed the courts, nor the ECP. “[They] only obey Prisoner 804,” he said, referring to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. “The assembly speaker, who is the custodian of the house, is absent today and failed to fulfil his duty,” he said, reiterating that the opposition believed Senate polls should be held only after the swearing-in of all elected members.
“Senate elections didn’t take place due to the government’s stubbornness. It is unfortunate that, unlike the rest of the country, Senate elections are not being held here,” he added.
On Monday, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the PHC order that deprived the party of seats reserved for women and minorities. Moved by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Mohammad Hamid Raza through senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, the petition has urged the apex court to set aside the PHC judgment, claiming it was based on a fundamental misconception and misinterpretation of Articles 51 and 106.