Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former senator Azam Khan Swati has filed a new petition in the Peshawar High Court, requesting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to proceed with Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Swati has also sought the court’s intervention to declare two ECP orders from March 26 and April 2, 2024, as illegal. These orders had suggested postponing the Senate polls in KP unless the opposition members-elect on reserved seats were sworn in.
In his petition, filed through Advocate Ali Zaman, Swati named the ECP, through its secretary, and five candidates elected to reserved seats as respondents. He pointed out that the ECP, in response to applications from the five women MPAs-elect, had threatened to delay the Senate elections if the provincial assembly speaker failed to administer their oaths. The ECP had then postponed the elections on April 2, 2024, after Senate polls were held in other provinces and Islamabad.
Swati had initially filed a petition following the March 26 order, urging the court to direct the ECP to conduct the Senate elections in KP on April 2. However, when the court heard the petition, the date had already passed. Following the constitutional amendments, the ECP raised objections to the petition, stating that the high court should not issue orders or declarations beyond the scope of an application.
In his latest petition, Swati emphasized that he was a contestant for the Senate elections and had filed his nomination papers after the poll schedule was announced on March 14. He argued that the ECP’s orders to delay the elections were unjust, as he, a candidate, had not been heard before these decisions were made. Swati also noted that the Supreme Court’s ruling had resolved the dispute regarding the allocation of reserved seats for women, leaving no justification for further delays in the Senate elections.
