PHC extends order restraining oath taking on reserved seats

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday extended the order restraining the oath-taking on reserved seats on PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) petition, ARY News reported.

Yesterday, Peshawar High Court ordered the Speaker, to restrain him from administering oath to members elected on reserved seats till today.

At the outset of the hearing on SIC petition, the court extended the order till March 13 and notices were also issued to all other political parties.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, which were claimed by PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), to other political parties.

Following the allocation of reserved seats, PML-N becomes the largest parliamentary party in National Assembly (NA) with 123 seats followed by PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) with 82 seats. Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP managed to secure 73 seats.

According to notifications issued by the ECP, three reserved seats for minorities in the National Assembly have been allocated to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

Furthermore, two reserved seats for women in lower house of Parliament from Punjab have been allotted to PML-N and PPP.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s three minority seats have been allocated to PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F each securing one seat.

The ECP has also issued notifications for reserved seats for women in the Sindh Assembly. Notably, PPP’s Sumeta Afzal Syed and MQM-P’s Fouzia Hameed have been given the reserved seats for women. The reserved seat for minorities in Sindh Assembly has been given to PPP’s Sadhu Mal alias Surinder Valasai.