Peshawar – The government and opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have reached an agreement to conduct the upcoming Senate elections uncontested.
Negotiations between the KP government and opposition parties regarding the Senate elections have entered their final stage, aiming to ensure that no voting is required.
According to sources, a late-night meeting was held in Peshawar between leaders of the government and opposition, where there was significant agreement on a 6/5 seat-sharing formula.
As per the proposed formula, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will be allotted 6 seats, while the opposition will receive 5 seats. However, internal matters within the provincial government and PTI are yet to be finalized. To proceed, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has been tasked with convincing PTI’s remaining candidates to withdraw from the race.
Sources indicate that the provincial government is also in favor of uncontested elections to avoid any possible political damage that might arise from a contested process. The opposition parties, on the other hand, are already united on a joint strategy and are working towards having their candidates elected unopposed.
As part of the process, another final meeting is scheduled for today between government and opposition representatives, where formal signatures are expected to be taken to finalize the agreement.
Both sides have principally agreed to conduct uncontested elections, though some technical details remain to be worked out.
If the elections are contested, the voting outcome could be uncertain for both sides, which is why efforts are being made to ensure a 100% success rate for their respective candidates.
It is worth mentioning that Senate elections in KP are scheduled to be held on July 21, for 11 seats, including 7 general seats, and 2 seats each for women and technocrats