ISLAMABAD (PEN) : Newly-elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly were sworn in on Wednesday in the session that began after a delay of over an hour due to the ruckus caused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers in the legislature, reported on Wednesday.
The session had to begin at 11am but was delayed as the elected lawmakers were facing difficulty in entering the assembly hall as multiple PTI workers tried entering the floor and even threw “lota” and a shoe at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Sobia Shahid.
Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered oath to the newly elected lawmakers.
As many as 113 newly-elected members, who have been elected to the assembly on general seats, took oath in today’s session today.
The KP Assembly consists of 145 members, however, 30 seats reserved for women and minorities have not been notified as the matter is currently being heard by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The assembly has 26 reserved seats for women and four for minorities.
Meanwhile, elections were postponed on two general seats owing to the deaths of candidates in the respective constituencies.
Once the oath was administered, Speaker Ghani announced that the election for the speaker and deputy speaker of the House would be held tomorrow (February 29).
The MPAs willing to contest for the coveted slot will have time till 5pm today to submit their nomination papers while those willing to withdraw from the polls can take back their papers by midnight, said the speaker.
“Polling for the speaker and deputy speaker election will be held tomorrow at 10am,” announced Speaker Ghani.
PTI founder Imran Khan had announced Aqibullah Khan as the candidate for the KP speaker.
But it has emerged today that the PTI founder has reverted his decision to name Aqibullah Khan as the new speaker.
PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan announced today that PTI founder Imran Khan has nominated Babar Salim Swati as the candidate for the KP Assembly speaker.
Furthermore, at least 350 policemen have been deployed outside the KP Assembly building as the Awami National Party (ANP) had announced it would protest outside the legislature which met for its maiden session.
According to Geo News, internet services have also been suspended in the area surrounding the KP Assembly.
With the swearing-in, the KP Assembly becomes the third provincial legislature to come into existence after the February 8 general elections.
Last week, the assemblies in Punjab and Sindh were sworn in.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of Article 109 of the Constitution [..] the Governor of KP has been pleased to summon the provincial assembly to meet on February 28, 2024, at 11am […] for taking the oath of its members, election and oath of the speaker and deputy speaker,” read summoning notification of the assembly issued last week.
Following the February 8 polls, the PTI-backed independent candidates, who have since joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), emerged as the largest party with 90 seats and are in poll position to form the government in the province with Ali Amin Gandapur nominated as the candidate for the chief minister post.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has managed to secure seven seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) five, and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) four seats.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and Awami National Party (ANP) have won two and one seats, respectively.
Despite efforts by the PML-N to garner support from other opposition parties including the PPP, ANP and the JUI-F to bring its own candidate for the chief minister slot, it is likely that the SIC — essentially PTI-backed candidates — would succeed in electing Gandapur as the province’s chief executive due to their majority in the House.
