PESHAWAR: The newly-elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly are set to take oath on Monday (today) as the tally of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf rose to 84, paving way for the party to form the government single-handedly for the first time.

With the inclusion of 16 reserved seats for women and two non-Muslims, PTI has emerged as the single largest party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly with 84 MPAs-elect in the house of 124 members. As such, PTI would not need support of any other party in formation of next government.

In its previous stint, Jamaat-i-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party were allies of the PTI-led government. In July 25 elections, PTI won 64 seats and two independent members also joined it, taking the number of its members to 66.

On Saturday night, the Election Commission of Pakistan notified names of the women and non-Muslims elected on the reserved seats. Of them, PTI got 16 seats reserved for women and two for non-Muslims.

MPAs-elect to take oath today, election of speaker, his deputy on 15th

As PTI had given 14 names in its priority list submitted to the ECP before elections, the commission asked it to provide two more names as its share increased after winning the elections with absolute majority.

Of the 84 seats, the PTI’s five MPAs-elect have decided to retain their National Assembly seat and quit the membership of the provincial assembly. They include Pervez Khattak, Dr Haider Ali, Ali Ameen Gandapur and Asad Qaiser. Mr Khattak has won two seats of the provincial assembly and one National Assembly’s.

According to final results of ECP, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal secured 12 seats, including two reserved for women, Awami National Party nine seats, including two reserved for women, PML-N six and PPPP five with both having one each women’s reserved seat.

Of the six independent MPAs-elect, two have joined PTI and one Pakistan Muslim League.

Similarly, elections on PK-78, Peshawar-XIII, and PK-99, Dera Ismail Khan-V, have been postponed due to assassination of the candidates, including ANP leader Haroon Ahmed Bilour and Ikramullah Gandapur. Also, the ECP has withheld election on PK-23, Shangla, due to low turnout of women voters.

In the inaugural session of KP Assembly, besides administering oath to the members the election of Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chief Minister would take place. The assembly’s proceedings will start at 10am on Monday (today).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has nominated PML-N MPA-elect Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha as the presiding officer to administer oath to the new members of the assembly as PTI has nominated the outgoing speaker and MNA-elect Asad Qaiser for the position of National Assembly speaker.

The assembly secretariat had proposed names of five members-elect, including Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Sardar Hussain Babak, Aurangzeb Nalotha, Inayatullah Khan and Sultan Mohammad Khan. However, of them, the governor nominated Mr Nalotha as the presiding officer.

After the oath-taking ceremony, the desiring candidates will file nomination papers for the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker the same day.

The submission of nomination papers will continue till 4pm and any candidate can withdraw his papers till 11pm. The election of the speaker and deputy speaker would be held on August 15 (Wednesday) through secret ballot.

The PTI is yet to name its candidates for the slot of speaker and deputy speaker and other cabinet members. It has already nominated MPA-elect from Swat, Mahmood Khan, for the slot of chief minister.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2018