All eyes on KP as 145 lawmakers cast votes for 11 Senate seats

Peshawar (Web Desk): Polling is currently in progress at the Jirga Hall of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (KP), where members are casting their votes to elect eleven new representatives to the Senate.

The process, which began earlier today, is scheduled to continue until 5pm.

A total of 145 legislators are participating in this electoral exercise, following confirmation from the Election Commission that all are eligible to vote.

Initially, efforts were made to avoid polling altogether, as both the provincial government and the opposition had tentatively agreed on a six-to-five seat distribution formula.However, these plans were derailed when certain dissident members affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) declined to withdraw their nominations, making uncontested elections unfeasible.

Despite late-night negotiations, during which PTI succeeded in persuading four rebel candidates to step down, the candidacy of Khurram Zeeshan remained a sticking point. His refusal to bow out of the race ultimately necessitated the holding of formal elections for all seats.

In the contest for general Senate seats, the provincial government has nominated four individuals: Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Afridi, and Pir Noorul Haq Qadri.

PTI’s choices for the reserved seats include Rubina Naz for the women’s quota and Azam Swati for the technocrat position.

On the opposition side, the candidates for general seats include Niaz Ahmad from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Talha Mehmood representing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Atta ul Haq from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). PPP’s Rubina Khalid is contesting the women’s seat, while Dilawar Khan from JUI-F is vying for the technocrat position.

Currently, the ruling coalition holds a numerical edge in the assembly, with 92 members backing the government and 53 aligning with opposition parties.

It is worth noting that these Senate elections had previously been delayed on April 2, 2024, due to the speaker's failure to administer oaths to lawmakers on reserved seats, which rendered the electoral college incomplete at the time.

Meanwhile, the KP Assembly’s security in-charge stated that the Election Commission has also imposed a ban on media coverage within the assembly premises today to maintain order and security during the voting process.