KP Senate polls: foes turn friends to seize seats today

PESHAWAR: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) today, political rival parties are now coming together in mutual agreement for their own political interests to elect 11 Senators for the Upper House (Senate). In this regard an agreement has been reached between KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and opposition parties on a formula under which 6 Senate seats have been allocated to the ruling party and 5 to the opposition, so that the Senate candidates from both sides can be elected unopposed.

The formula:

The total number of members in the KP Assembly is 145, which includes 93 members from the ruling party (PTI) and 52 members from the opposition parties. According to the set formula for electing Senators from KP, a candidate for a general seat requires the support of 19 MPAs , while candidates contesting for technocrat and women seats need the backing of 49 provincial assembly members.

Who is likely to become a senator?

Elections are being held today for 5 general, 2 technocrat, and 2 women reserved seats in the Senate from KP. The ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has fielded the following candidates Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Khan Afridi, and Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri for General Seats , Azam Swati for Technocrat Seat and Rubina Naz for Women Seat.

Opposition will try to get more than five Senate seats as PTI backtracks

From the opposition, five candidates are contesting the Senate elections including Adnan Khan(PMLN) son of Federal Minister Amir Muqam, Atta-ul-Haq Darvesh (JUI), Dilawar Khan (PML-N), Talha Mahmood (PPP) and Rubina Khalid (PPP).

Wealthiest candidates:

Among the candidates contesting the Senate elections from both sides, there are several billionaires and wealthy individuals including Mirza Khan Afridi, Talha Mahmood, Azam Swati, Dilawar Khan, Adnan Khan, and Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri. Out of these, Mirza Khan Afridi, Dilawar Khan, Azam Swati, and Talha Mahmood have previously served as Senators, while Adnan Khan is contesting the Senate elections for the first time.

Is someone behind the senate election game?

Over the past month, momentum has been building around the process of electing 11 Senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the Upper House (Senate). The three key players behind this political game are KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Federal Minister Engineer Amir Muqam, and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. While they publicly call each other political enemies, they are now playing a behind the scenes game of mutual support for their own political interests.