Election Amendment Act 2024 challenged in LHC 

LAHORE: The Election Amendment Act 2024 barring independent lawmakers from switching parties has been challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC), ARY News reported.

As per details, a petition was filed by citizen Mushkoor Hussain through advocate Nadeem Sarwar and named the federal government, Election Commission, President, and Prime Minister as respondents.

The petition argued that the amendments to the Election Act were made to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision. The petitioner urged the Lahore High Court to declare the amendments to the Election Act 2024 as null and void.

Additionally, the petition requested a stay order against the implementation of the amended Act until the final decision on the petition.

The petition stated that four amendments were made to the Election Act to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision, which is unconstitutional.

Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Elections Act (Amendment Bill) 2024 into law, barring independent lawmakers from switching parties.

The bill was sent to the Senate Secretariat for the issuance of a gazette notification.

Prior to this, the National Assembly (NA) approved Election Act Amendment Bill 2024. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani presented the bill in the lower house of the Parliament, proposing amendments to the Elections Act 2017 in order to bar lawmakers from changing their party affiliation at a later stage.

READ: President Zardari signs bill into law preventing independents from changing parties

The opposition stated protest against passage of the Election Act Amendment Bill 2024 and torn copies of the agenda of the house.

According to the bill, lawmakers cannot change the party after joining one within three days of winning the election. Furthermore, reserved seats cannot be allotted to a party, that did not win a single seat in the election.

The legislation follows after SC allotted reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

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.

Read more: ‘Legislation being made to prevent PTI from getting reserved seats’

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.