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

ISLAMABAD PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Tuesday claimed that the government was planning to introduce a legislation aimed at preventing his party from getting seats reserved for women and minorities, ARY News reported.

In a statement, Barrister Gohar urged the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to ensure implementation of its July 12 ruling, declaring PTI eligible for the allocation of reserved seats.

He stated that the government’s actions are an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision and that PTI will seek justice from the apex court. He expressed hope that the court would take action to enforce its ruling.

The PTI chairman also pointed out that this is the first time in parliament that an attempt is being made to override the Supreme Court’s decisions.

Barrister Gohar also appealed to the Supreme Court to take notice of the action being taken against 41 MNAs who have submitted their affidavits.

He requested the court to issue notices and asked the Election Commission to notify the remaining members of provincial assembly (MPAs).

The statement came as PML-N tabled the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the National Assembly, calling for a restriction on independent lawmakers joining political parties after a certain period.

Tabled by PML-N MNA Bilal Azhar Kayani, the bill argued that Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution provided for the allocation of seats to the National Assembly and provincial assemblies, along with the mechanism for the elections.

It said they also detailed the treatment for independent candidates that may join a political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates.

Another change proposed by the bill said that if any political party failed to submit its list for reserved seats within the prescribed period then it would not be eligible for the quota of reserved seats at a later time.

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.

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.