Reserved seats: KP govt decides to convene Assembly session on 20th

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: After a prolonged deadlock, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has finally decided to convene a session of the provincial assembly for the oath-taking of members elected on reserved seats for women and minorities on July 20.

The assembly session is proposed for Sunday as per a summary prepared by the Law Department and sent to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for approval. Once signed, the summary will be forwarded to the governor. Following the oath-taking of 21 women and 4 minority members, the total number of opposition lawmakers in the provincial assembly will rise from 28 to 53. However, the government seems to be working to block the oath-taking process by not providing a quorum, despite calling a session in apparent compliance with judicial and Election Commission directives. Without the quorum, the newly nominated members will not be able to take oath.

On June 27, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the allocation of the remaining 21 reserved seats in the KP Assembly to opposition parties. Complying with the verdict, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a notification of the appointments and formally requested the speaker to administer the oath to the new members. However, the provincial government initially refused to convene the session.

Subsequently, Leader of the Opposition Dr Ibadullah Khan wrote to Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and the ECP, urging immediate action. In response, the speaker replied that a session was not currently in progress and that calling a new one was not within his powers, pledging that the oath would be administered once the assembly convened. The ECP then invoked Article 109 of the Constitution, asking the governor to summon the assembly. The governor forwarded a recommendation to the chief minister, while the ECP also directly requested the CM to advise the governor accordingly.

Recently, the ECP has written to the chief justice of Peshawar High Court, seeking nomination of a suitable person under Article 255(2) of the Constitution to administer the oath. In light of these developments, CM held extensive consultations with his parliamentary party and legal team, ultimately agreeing to convene the session.

The Law Department’s summary has recommended that the oath-taking be the first agenda item after the recitation of the Holy Quran during the July 20 session. Upon taking oath, the KP Assembly will reach its full strength of 145 members. The government currently has 92 members, including 58 from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and 34 independents, while the opposition will rise to 53 members after the oath. The timing of the assembly session — just a day before the Senate elections — has raised suspicions about the government’s intentions.

According to sources, the government plans to deliberately avoid maintaining a quorum to prevent the oath-taking of 25 members. The required quorum for the KP Assembly is 38 members, whereas the current opposition strength is 27, potentially obstructing the swearing-in of the new members.