Second serious blow to PTI in KP within a fortnight

ISLAMABAD: PTI’s senior leadership is upset over second major defeat in recent bar elections in its stronghold- KP.

In a fortnight of losing the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections across KP, the PTI-backed lawyers have now suffered yet another major setback - this time in the provincial Bar Council polls, where the Awami National Party (ANP)-supported Malgari Wakilan group has emerged dominant.

According to the results of the KP Bar Council elections held last week, Malgari Wakilan candidates secured 13 of the 28 seats, while PTI’s Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) managed to win only five. The remaining seats were shared among candidates backed by the JUIF, PPP, Jamaat-e-Islami, PMLN, and independents.

A senior PTI leader, on condition of not being named, termed it “really unfortunate”. He said that internal divisions and KP government’s focus on politics instead of governance and delivery, are the factors for thee back-to-back defeats in KP.

It is admitted that the defeat carries political implications for the PTI as well as the recently elected KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who not only actively campaigned for PTI-backed candidates but also announced a grant of around Rs450 million for the provincial bar associations shortly before the elections. Despite these efforts, the PTI faced a sweeping defeat in what has been considered its political stronghold.

This latest setback comes soon after the PTI-supported panel’s failure in the SCBA elections, where it lost in all polling stations across KP. In that contest, PTI’s panel led by Senator Hamid Khan could not secure even a single win, while the Independent Group backed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and senior lawyer Ahsan Bhoon registered a comprehensive victory nationwide.

The back-to-back defeats highlight a clear erosion of PTI’s influence among the legal community in KP. Sources say PTI Founding Chairman Imran Khan, who remains incarcerated, has not yet been fully informed about the depth of the party’s decline in its home base.

Among the newly elected members, Malgari Wakilan secured key seats in Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, and Bannu. The twin electoral defeats — first in the SCBA and now in the KP Bar Council — underscore the party’s waning grip on the legal fraternity and suggest a broader weakening of its traditional support base in the province.