The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has instructed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to resolve the matter of Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 60 days.
This decision was issued in response to a petition filed by a candidate for the technocrat seat in the Senate elections. Justice S.M. Ateeq Shah, in a six-page verdict, directed the ECP to proceed with the elections by the law.
The petition arose after the ECP postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to a dispute over the administration of oaths to elected women on reserved seats. The ECP had cited a pending Supreme Court case regarding the allocation of reserved seats as the reason for the delay.
The PHC has now mandated the ECP to address the matter promptly within the specified timeframe.
The petitioner argued that the Senate has been incomplete without representation from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During the court proceedings, the petitioner’s lawyer highlighted the lack of implementation of the Supreme Court’s detailed judgment on the special seats case.
Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim questioned the status of the Supreme Court’s ruling, to which the petitioner’s lawyer replied that, although the decision had been issued, it had not yet been enforced.
The ECP’s lawyer informed the court that a review petition had been filed, seeking further guidance on proceeding with the elections.
The petitioner’s lawyer emphasized the urgency of the matter, noting that while senators serve a six-year tenure, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s representation in the Senate remains pending.
 orders the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to finalize Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 60 days.){kind=link}