KP governor offers mediation between govt, opposition

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali on Sunday offered to bridge the gap between the opposition and government and elect Senators from the province unopposed like other provinces.

After a function on Sunday, the governor said there was not much distance between the Governor’s House and the Chief Minister’s House and all should unite to work for the uplift of the province.

The official residences of the KP chief minister and governor are located opposite to each other on the same road. However, both remained in clash with each other for most of the time in the last few decades, especially when two different parties were in power in Centre and KP.

Ghulam Ali said he had written constitutional letter to the speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to convene the session.

The opposition and ruling party in KP are facing a head-on collision over the issue of Senate polls. The opposition parties want the MPAs elected on reserved seats to take oath before the polls so they can cast their vote in the Senate polls.

The ruling party wants holding the Senate polls on the due date without the MPAs on reserved seats being sworn in.

The governor earlier intervened and summoned the session of the provincial assembly on March 22 for the oath taking of the remaining members. The session was not held on the date called by the governor.

The KP Assembly speaker a day after the letter by the governor wrote to the Law Department to seek its opinion. The ruling members termed the letter of the governor illegal.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a petition filed by MPAs notified on reserved seats ordered last week that the Senate polls in KP could be postponed in case oath was not administered to the remaining members of the KP assembly to complete the House.

On Thursday, a five-member ECP bench issued a verdict on a petition filed by five women members Amina Sardar, Faiza Malik, Afshan Hussain, Shazia Jadoon and Jamila Paracha notified by the ECP on seats reserved for women.

“In case of failure of speaker of KP assembly to comply with the directives of the Peshawar High Court, the Commission shall be constrained to postpone the Senate election and extend the time for completion of the Senate election to the extent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in terms of section 128 of the Act till the administration of oath to the applicants,” stated a verdict by the five members bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja.

On Wednesday, the Peshawar High Court ordered the KP assembly speaker to administer oath to the MPAs elected on reserved seats and facilitate them to cast their vote in Senate polls.

The PTI has approached the PHC against the ECP’s decision linking the holding of the Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the administration of the oath to the MPAs elected on the reserved seats.