KP Assembly: Minority seat to be decided by toss between PML-N, JUI-F

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secured one more reserved seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued its decision regarding the allocation of reserved seats, ARY News reported.

According to the ECP decision, the PML-N, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have each been awarded nine reserved seats. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has secured 5 seats, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and Awami National Party (ANP) have each received one reserved seat.

The ECP decided that the allocation of the minority seat will be determined through a toss between PML-N and JUI-F. Furthermore, objections raised by JUI-F regarding the reserved seats were rejected by the Election Commission. The decision also clarified that the number of reserved seats will not be altered based on by-elections.

The ECP reconsidered the allocation of reserved seats in the KP Assembly on the directives of the Peshawar High Court that ruled the earlier allocation as null and void. Hearing a plea filed by the PML-N, the PHC bench directed the ECP to reassess the allocation of the specially designated seats for minorities and women.

The court had also directed the election watchdog to hold consultations with all candidates and political parties within 10 days to determine the new allocation.

The Election Commission had reserved its verdict on Monday after conducting a hearing on the matter.

The PML-N had challenged the allocation of the seats for women and minorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, maintaining an ‘inequitable’ allocation of the seats by the ECP.

Submitted through Barrister Saqib Raza, the PML-N’s petition asserted that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (F) was allocated 10 reserved seats based on its seven general seats.

The petition read that the PML-N also secured seven general seats in the KP Assembly yet it was allocated only seven reserved seats for an identical number of general seats as JUI-F.

The party maintained that it originally won six general seats in the province, with one independent joining within three days of the election—totaling seven.

The petitioner added that the ECP allocated reserved seats solely in proportion to six general seats, which the petitioner argued ‘unfair’.