Non-administration of oath delays Senate polls in KP

PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday notified postponement of Senate polls to the extent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa till the administration of oath to the elected members against the reserved seats.

A notification said that the commission was of the considered view that all the standards of honesty, justness, and fairness of election could not be fulfilled due to non-administration of oath to elected members.

It added that non-administration of oath was tantamount to disenfranchisement of lawful voters and denial of level playing field to them. Thus, the electoral college was incomplete for the purpose of the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the official news agency reported.

The opposition members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday submitted a request to the provincial election commission for postponement of elections in the province.

MPA Ahmed Karim Kundi submitted the request, signed by 25 members, on behalf of the opposition.

He maintained that the KP Assembly speaker had not administered oath to the elected members against reserved seats despite the Peshawar High Court’s verdict.

It is worth mentioning that the KP Assembly speaker had already filed a review petition on the PHC verdict.

Earlier, the teams of Election Commission reached the House on Tuesday for the polls well before time but the proceedings could not start as per the scheduled time of nine o’clock.

The provincial election commissioner contacted the chief election commissioner on the request of the opposition for postponement of elections.

Later, the ECP notified postponement of Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.