ECP hints at postponing Senate polls in KP

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker to administer the oath to the members elected on reserved seats, hinting that the Senate poll in the province could be postponed if the order was not complied with.

The ECP announced a verdict reserved earlier regarding the KP Assembly’s speaker refusal to administer the oath to members elected on reserved seats in the provincial assembly.

The ECP said that if the KP speaker does not comply with the Peshawar High Court’s decision and refuse to administer the oath, the poll body will be compelled to postpone Senate elections in the province.

The decision emphasized that voting is a fundamental right of every citizen, and no one can be deprived of their right to vote.

Earlier, the ECP had reserved its verdict on a plea of not administrating the oath to the newly elected members on the reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

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The MPAs elect Jamila Paracha, Afshan Hussain, Amna Sardar Faiza Malik, Shazia Jadoon, and Suresh Kumar attended the proceedings. They argued that they were being denied the opportunity to take their oath as members of the provincial assembly.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, and consisting of Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Hassan Bharwana, and Justice (Retd) Ikram Ullah Khan, heard the petition.