Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Monday appeared to have triumphed in his pursuit of an uncontested Senate election from the province after all but one of the disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates announced their withdrawal from the race.
Late on Sunday night, holdouts Irfan Saleem, Aisha Bano, Waqas Orakzai and Irshad Hussain announced they were withdrawing their nominations, maintaining it was done with a heavy heart, as they did not believe Gandapur’s spokesman Mohammad Saif represented the “ideology” of the PTI. However, one “covering” candidate—Khurram Zeeshan—has refused to withdraw his candidacy, potentially hampering the provincial government’s agreement with the opposition. Despite the withdrawals, the dissident candidates’ names will remain on the rolls, as their decision came too late to alter the ballot.
The Senate election is conducted via the single transferable vote system of proportional representation, with all eligible voters casting a single ballot listing their choices in order of preference. According to analysts, each candidate for general seats requires roughly 19 votes to proceed to the Senate. Reserved seats’ candidates requires 49 votes each. Once a candidate secures these votes, any additional votes cast for them are transferred to other candidates in order of preference.
The crux of the controversy from the disgruntled members is the KP government’s agreement with the opposition, allowing the party to secure six seats in the Senate against the opposition’s five. The dissidents maintain the party could have secured seven seats, though reports indicate the PTI’s infighting may have hampered this goal, prompting Gandapur’s decision to prefer an uncontested election.
Following the Supreme Court ruling on reserved seats, the PTI has 92 MPAs, while the opposition’s combined strength stands at 53.
The PTI is fielding Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Muhammad Afridi and Noorul Haq Qadri on general seats and Azam Khan Swati on the technocrat seat and Rubina Naz on the women’s seats.
The opposition’s candidates are Attaul Haq of JUIF, Muhammad Talha of PPP, and Niaz Ahmad of PMLN on general seats, as well as Dilawar Khan of JUIF for the technocrat seat and PPP’s Rubina Khalid on the women’s seat.