The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan, having a total of 145 seats, with 115 general seats, 26 seats reserved for women and 4 reserved for non-Muslims. The 11th Provincial Assembly of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was dissolved on 18 January 2023, and the province is set to elect a new legislature on 8 October 2023.
Administration
The Federal Government appoints a Governor as head of the Provincial Government, the province is divided into 35 districts. Each district has a Zilla Nazim, in a District the functions are devolved further to the Tehsil, Town and Union Council Governments.
Composition
After Final Delimitation 2018, the composition of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats are as under:
History
In 1901 the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) was declared as a Chief Commissioner's Province separating it from the Punjab and thirty-one years later in 1932 its status was raised to a Governor's Province and the NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE (then NWFP) Legislative Assembly was formed. The first president of the council was His Lordship Hon'ble K.B Khan Abdul Ghafoor Khan, Khan of Zaida, who worked in this slot from 1932 till his death in 1936 and was followed by the then deputy president K.B. Abdur Rahim Khan Kundi till the completion of the tenure in 1937. In 1937, the Government of India Act 1935 was enforced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP) changing the pre set regulations and introduced the portfolio of the chief minister abolishing the portfolio of the president.
This minority government fell shortly afterwards and Dr.Khan Sahib, backed by the Khudai Khidmatgar was elected Chief Minister. His government resigned in 1939 as part of the Indian National Congress's Quit India Movement. The provincial government remained suspended for over three years before a minority government was formed by the Muslim League Sardar Aurangzeb Khan. This government collapsed in 1944 when Dr. Khan Sahib managed to form a government again, before calling an election in 1946.
The Indian National Congress under Dr. Khan Sahib won the 1946 elections despite a strong showing by the Muslim League. The first session of parliament was summoned on 12 March 1946 under the Chairmanship of Sardar Bahadur Khan while Nawabzada Allah Nawaz Khan was elected as Speaker and Lala Girdheri Lal as Deputy Speaker on 13 March 1946. The total number of members was 50, the provincial government of Dr.Khan Sahib was dismissed by the Governor-General in September 1947 after the Chief Minister did not attend the oath taking ceremony of the new nation state of Pakistan. The Muslim league minority Chief Minister Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan formed a government with the help of Jalal-ud-din Jalal Baba. This Assembly was dissolved in 1951 and the number of members was increased from 80 to 85. The Muslim League controversially won the 1951 elections. Then comes names of Nawabzada Allah Nawaz Khan, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, Girdhari Lal who occupied the slot during 1947, Khan Muhammad Farid Khan, Malik Amir Alam Khan, Arbab Saifur Rahman who worked two times as deputy speaker, Muhammad Nawaz Khan, Rahim Dad Khan, Ahmad Hassan Khan, Abdul Akbar Khan, Shad Muhammad Khan Khattak, Syed Allaudin and Haji Muhammad Adeel who was the last deputy speaker.
After the creation of Pakistan, the first Election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Legislative Council was held on 15 December 1951 and the session of the Assembly was summoned on 10 January 1952 for the oath taking ceremony. Nawabzada Allah Nawaz Khan was again elected as the unopposed Speaker and Khan Muhammad Farid Khan as Deputy Speaker on 10 July 1952.
Following the declaration of One Unit on 3 October 1955, the country was divided into two provinces, West Pakistan and East Pakistan and the Legislative Assembly Building was declared as Peshawar High Court. After the dissolution of West Pakistan in 1970, was restored. The legislative Assembly was restored as a Provincial Assembly through a presidential order known as legal framework order 1970.