PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the successful candidates for the national and provincial assembly constituencies of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa late on Saturday in a gazette notification. It urged the independent candidates to become members of whatever political party they so desired.
On February 8, the province held elections for 113 provincial assembly seats and 44 seats in the National Assembly. For a variety of reasons, the ECP delayed announcing the outcomes of the eight National Assembly and the twenty-third K-P Assembly.
The majority of the province’s winners are the candidates supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who ran as independents after the ECP stripped the party of its electoral symbol, the “bat,” after contentious intra-party elections.
According to the law, independent candidates would stay independent for the duration of the assembly unless they joined a political party within three days of the gazette notification being issued.
As a result, if they so choose, the recently elected National Assembly members (MNAs) have until Monday, or today, to become members of a political party. In a similar vein, the newly elected provincial assembly members (MPAs) have until Tuesday, or tomorrow, to make their choice.
Ali Amin Gandapur from NA 44, Sibghatullah from NA-4, Gohar Ali Khan from NA-10, Omar Ayub Khan from NA-18, Asad Qaiser from NA-19, Shandana Gulzar from NA-30, Shehryar Afridi from NA-35, Sher Afzal Marwat from NA-41, and other members are among the newly elected MNAs.
In addition, Gandapur, who is the PTI’s nominee for the position of K-P chief minister, was victorious in the provincial assembly seat PK-113, Dera Ismail Khan. His name was added to the notification on Sunday; it was not included in the one sent out on Saturday night.
Eight K-P National Assembly constituencies that had not yet been announced in the gazette are: NA-15 Mansehra, which belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif; NA-11 Shangla, which belongs to PML-N Provincial President Amir Muqam; and NA-27 Khyber, NA-28 Peshawar, NA-38 Karak, NA-40 North Waziristan, and NA-43 Tank.
There are eight constituencies in Peshawar that are among the 23 K-P Assembly results that have been withheld: PK-72, PK-73, PK-74, PK-75, PK-78, PK-79, PK-80, and PK-82. PK-20 and 21 in Bajaur; PK-28, 29 and 30 in Shangla; PK-40 in Mansehra; PK-41 in Torghar; PK-44 in Abbottabad; PK-95 in Kurram; PK-101 and 102 in Bannu; and PK-103 in North Waziristan are among the other constituencies.
The assassination of a candidate, Rehan Zeb, caused the ECP to postpone voting in the constituencies of PK-22 and NA-8 in the Bajaur district before to the elections. Following the passing of candidate Ismatullah, the election for PK-91, Kohat, was postponed.
Punjab and Sindh
Candidates’ successes have been communicated by the ECP in due time. In addition to the 54 newly elected independent MNAs on February 16, it declared the win of PTI-backed independent candidate Mian Azhar for NA-129, Lahore, on February 13.
The ECP has now also announced the accomplishments of seven separate MPAs in Sindh. They are Muhammad Shabbir, PS-114; Bilal Hussain Jadoon, PS-109; Rehan, PS-110; Sarbuland Khan, PS-112; Ejaz Khan, PS-88; Wajid Khan, PS-92; Nazar Mehmood, PS-93; Mohammad Owais, PS-96.
Nevertheless, it appears that the PTI leadership’s inability to make a choice about joining a party ended the possibility of obtaining seats designated for women and minorities under Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution.
Within three days of the publication of the official gazette announcement of their victory, the victorious independent candidates may formally notify the ECP of their desire to join a political party, as per Rule 92 (6) of the Election Rules 2017. The candidate will stay independent in any other case.
By Monday, those informed on Friday might become members of a political party. But within the allotted time, Mian Azhar was unable to present any documentation pertaining to his joining any party. He would therefore continue to be independent, according to sources.
As per the ECP sources, Raja Khurram Nawaz, the winner of NA-48, is the only one who has submitted the affidavit of joining the PML-N thus far. A center of facilitation for independent candidates to join political parties has been established by the ECP.
