KP assembly oathtaking ceremony postponed until July 24

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly session, to be held on Sunday (today), is adjourned until July 24, 2025, as it lacked a quorum, with the oath-taking of members, who won reserved seats for minorities and women, put on hold.

According to details, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati postponed the session after verifying inadequate attendance. Opposition leader Ibadullah was frustrated by the delay and blamed the PTI-led ruling party of willfully hindering the process.

Ibadullah condemned the government, saying, “Political juveniles have been running KP for 12 years,” and blamed them for convening sessions at odd timings, such as midnight, for unconstitutionality.

He reiterated that the oath-taking, albeit delayed, was unavoidable, saying, “If it doesn’t happen now, it will happen later.

Ibadullah pointed to the lack of KP’s representation in the Senate over the last one and a half years, attributing this to the leadership of the provincial government, whom he labeled as “politically immature.” He underlined that nobody could prevent the oath-taking on reserved seats and the government was responsible for providing a quorum.

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In connection with the Senate elections on July 21, he said a pre-negotiated formula between the opposition and the government would regulate the process, despite KP’s dismal performance in Senate polls.

While commenting on intra-PTI dynamics, Dr. Ibadullah said, “PTI is a strange party; everyone makes different statements. Who is the leader, and whose word should we follow?

He further said that negotiations for Senate elections were held with party leaders, not individual nominees, and an unopposed election will be a good result. The opposition will go to the Chief Justice to have the oath-taking process done.

Previously, all the candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senate elections had been elected unopposed after a consensus between the provincial government and opposition

As per reports, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) settled its internal differences regarding coverage of candidates, and all protesting PTI candidates withdrew their nomination papers.

The results of the polls will follow a pre-decided formula to assign six Senate seats to PTI and five to the opposition. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) will each get two seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will get one seat.

The development follows deep fissures in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regarding the contentious allocation of Senate election tickets, with organizers of the party threatening protests if their demands are not fulfilled.