The oath-taking of reserve seats is a prerequisite for KP Senate elections: ECP

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s Senate elections are contingent upon reserve seat oaths being taken, according to a seven-page ruling released on Thursday by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The Election Commission issued a warning in its ruling, threatening to postpone the Senate election until the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had its oaths administered. The panel gave the KP Assembly Speaker instructions to uphold the Peshawar High Court’s ruling.

A five-member bench comprising Justice (Retd) Ikram Ullah Khan, Babar Hassan Bharwana, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Nisar Ahmed Durrani, and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja delivered its decision on the appeal concerning the failure to administer oaths to newly elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly who hold reserved seats.

The panel stressed in its decision that every voter has the fundamental right to vote and that this right cannot be taken away from them. According to the commission, it has the right and ability to issue these kinds of directives and ensuing orders to guarantee that elections are held honestly, fairly, justly, and in compliance with the law.

As a result, “the Commission may extend the time for completing the Senate election in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until the oath is administered to the Provincial Assembly members, including the applicants, if there is non-compliance with the directives issued under Article 218(3), along with Section 4(1) and Section 8(c) of the Act.”