Days after Punjab and Sindh Assembly’s legislators were sworn-in, newly elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan Assembly are set to meet today with Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administering the oath to the provincial legislators. “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of Article 109 of the Constitution the Governor of KP has been pleased to summon the provincial assembly to meet on February 28, 2024, at 11am for taking the oath of its members, election and oath of the speaker and deputy speaker,” read the official notification. As many as 113 newly-elected members, who have been elected to the assembly on general seats, are likely to take oath today in the 145-member house which is likely to elect its chief minister in coming days. Out of the 145, 30 are reserved seats, of which 26 are allocated for women and four are for minorities, have not been notified as the matter is currently being heard by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Meanwhile, elections were postponed on two general seats owing to the deaths of candidates in the respective constituencies. Following the February 8 polls, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independent candidates, who have since joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), have emerged as the largest party with 90 seats and are in poll position to form the government in the province with Ali Amin Gandapur as its nominated candidate for the chief minister post. Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has managed to secure seven seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) five, and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) four seats. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and Awami National Party (ANP) have won two and one seats, respectively. Despite efforts by the PML-N to garner support from other opposition parties including the PPP, ANP and the JUI-F to bring its own candidate for the chief minister slot, it is likely that the SIC (essentially PTI-backed candidates) would succeed in electing Gandapur as the province’s chief executive due to their majority in the House. As per the agenda issued by the Balochistan Assembly secretariat, newly-elected members of different parties will take oath of their office during the assembly session. At least 61 lawmakers will take oath during the session. Earlier, Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti and Prince Agha stepped down from Senate to take oath as members of the Balochistan Assembly. The election of new speaker and deputy speaker will be held later for which the assembly will announce the schedule after the oath-taking ceremony.
Newly-elected MPAs of KP & Balochistan assembly to take oath today
