Fearing defections: Gandapur rewards MPAs ahead of Senate polls

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has started awarding provincial assembly members (MPAs) with powers and posts ahead of the upcoming Senate elections in the province.

On Wednesday, Gandapur appointed 27 MPAs from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as parliamentary secretaries, a move apparently taken to keep them from defection in the forthcoming Senate polls.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recently announced that polling to fill the vacant 11 Senate seats allotted to KP – general 7, women 2 and technocrats 2 – would be held on July 21.

The PML-N led coalition government requires 65 votes to accomplish two-third majority in the Senate. It needs six seats from KP to reach 65 up from 59 seats. Likewise, the opposition seats in the Senate will also be up to 37 from the existed 26 if it wins all the 11 seats.

Meanwhile, total members in the KP Assembly are 145, with opposition and PTI and Suni-e-Itahad having 52 and 93, respectively.

If all 145 MPAs cast their vote for 11 senate seats, each candidate would be requiring minimum 13 votes from the provincial assembly members.

Gandapur-led KP government is well-aware that after already achieving a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly following a closure of the reserved seats chapter in their favour, the coalition government ruling at the centre aims to secure a two-thirds majority in the upper house as well.

Therefore, the chief minister KP is bestowing his party MPAs with advantages so that they could not defect during the Senate elections.

Who gets what?

According to a notification issued by the KP Administration Department, the following appointments have been made:

1. Ali Shah – Parliamentary Secretary for Housing
2. Akhtar Ali – Parliamentary Secretary for Law
3. Hameed ur Rehman – Parliamentary Secretary for Mineral Development
4. Sultan Room – Parliamentary Secretary for Auqaf
5. Naeem Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture
6. Gul Ibrahim Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and Tourism
7. Azam Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Excise
8. Shafiullah Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Corruption
9. Ubaid ur Rehman – Parliamentary Secretary for Health
10. Ajmal Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Sports
11. Abdul Kabir Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education
12. Fazl Haq – Parliamentary Secretary for Prisons
13. Riaz Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Revenue
14. Rajab Ali Abbasi – Parliamentary Secretary for Social Welfare
15. Iftikhar Jadoon – Parliamentary Secretary for Food
16. Murtaza Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Finance
17. Amir Farzand – Parliamentary Secretary for Irrigation
18. Arshad Umarzai – Parliamentary Secretary for Transport
19. Mehboob Sher – Parliamentary Secretary for Communication & Works (C&W)
20. Abdul Ghani – Parliamentary Secretary for Population Welfare
21. Mian Umar – Parliamentary Secretary for Public Health
22. Ashfaq Ahmad – Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government
23. Shafiullah Jan – Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Technology
24. Usman Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Relief
25. Asif Khan – Parliamentary Secretary for Establishment
26. Ajab Gul – Parliamentary Secretary for Education
27. Malik Adeel Iqbal – Parliamentary Secretary for Livestock

So far, no notification has been issued regarding what benefits or privileges the newly appointed parliamentary secretaries will receive from the provincial government.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s treasury — which relies on the federal government for 90% of its budget — is already supporting a record-breaking 35-member cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.