PESHAWAR: Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Saif has urged Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to show moral courage and refuse to accept the reserved seats.
“If the opposition parties have even the slightest moral courage, they will refuse to take reserved seats which are only PTI’s right but have been put up for ‘auction’,” said Saif.
“Fazlur Rehman should also show moral courage like [ANP’s] Amir Haider Hoti,” the KP CM’s aide said while welcoming the latter’s statement regarding not accepting the reserved seats.
His remarks refer to the Supreme Court’s June 27 verdict, which declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ineligible for the reserved seats, after which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) restored five reserved seats for women in the National Assembly from KP.
The electoral body also reinstated 21 reserved seats for women in the KP Assembly of which eight were allocated to JUI-F, six to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and five to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The ECP has also announced a revised schedule for Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, setting July 21 as the new polling date.
Apart from the issue of senate elections, the reserved seats also hold importance with regards to the future of the CM Ali Amin Gandapur-led KP government which in recent times might face the threat of a possible no confidence motion — a prospect that might pose serious threat to the PTI as the opposition is just 20 seats away from tipping the balance of power in the provincial assembly.
The KP Assembly has a total strength of 145, but at the moment, there are 115 elected members. Of the remaining 30, 26 seats are reserved for women and four for minorities.
The JUI-F had seven elected members, received 10 women and two minority seats, taking its total to 19. The PML-N, which started with six elected members, got nine reserved seats and now stands at 15. Meanwhile, PPP has risen from four to 11 seats after being allocated six women and one minority seat.
Expanding on the reserved seats situation, Barrister Saif recalled that Maulana Fazl had abandoned the PTI during the 26th Constitutional Amendment as well.
“First the mandate of PTI was stolen through Form 47 and now the reserved seats are also being distributed among others,” Saif remarked.
He further said that the federal government has used every tactic to eliminate the PTI but has failed nevertheless.
