Subsequently, the PHC ruling allowed the ruling coalition, comprising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and other allies, to gain a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. This decision increased the PML-N’s seats to 123 and the PPP’s to 73, while the SIC held 82 seats.
ECP seeks SC‘s guidance on reserved seats ruling
- By Zahid Mashwani -
- Jul 25, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has approached the Supreme Court to seek clarification on a ruling regarding the allocation of reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
According to ECP, PTI has not conducted intra-party elections, raising questions about the legitimacy of its party structure.
“PTI is not functioning as a proper organization due to the lack of intra-party elections”, sources quoted ECP as saying.
The ECP has requested the SC to clarify who holds the authority to issue party certificates and how these should be recognized.
Sources told ARY News that the commission would decide on de-notifying 77 members who had reached the assemblies on reserved seats.
SC verdict
A 13-member bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled that the PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, setting aside the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision denying the reserved seats to the SIC.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan opposed the majority decision.
Reserved seats issue
The reserved seats issue came to limelight after over 80 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections.
The SIC then approached the ECP on February 21 seeking allocation of reserved seats.
However, the PTI suffered a setback after the electoral body, citing the party’s failure to submit its list of candidates, denied allocating the reserved seats to the SIC via its 4-1 majority verdict on March 4.
The election commission distributed the reserved seats for women and minorities among other political parties.
Read more: PTI ‘committed suicide’ by joining SIC, says CJP Isa
The PTI-backed SIC had approached the court after the ECP refused to allocate the reserved seats due to the party’s failure to submit its list of candidates before the deadline. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) upheld the ECP’s decision, leading the SIC to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly – according to a notification, the ECP allocated one reserved seat each to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
In Sindh Assembly – allocated reserved seat for women to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP. PPP’s Samita Afzal and MQM-P’s Fouzia Hameed elected on reserved seats.