Party position after SC's ruling in reserved seats case

ISLAMABAD: Following the Supreme Court’s (SC) Constitutional Bench decision on review pleas regarding reserved seats, the membership of 77 national and provincial assembly lawmakers has been reinstated.

The SC’s Constitutional Bench on Friday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council’s plea, seeking reserved seats in the national and all provincial assemblies on the basis of its general seats.

The bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, set aside the apex court’s earlier judgment and restored the Peshawar High Court ruling that ruled that the reserved seats would be distributed among other parties.

This includes the restoration of eight women National Assembly members from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 women members on reserved seats Assembly from Punjab as well as three non-Muslim seats.

In the Punjab Assembly, the membership of 24 women and three non-Muslim members has been restored, while in the Sindh Assembly, two women and one non-Muslim member’s status has been restored. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly saw the reinstatement of 21 women and four non-Muslim members.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz secured 14 seats in the National Assembly, while the Pakistan People’s Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl managed to get five and three reserved seats in the lower house.

The PML-N emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the ruling, securing 44 seats across the National Assembly and three provincial assemblies.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 10 seats for JUI-F and seven for PML-N were reinstated, while PPP, ANP, and PTI Parliamentarians each regained one seat.

In the Punjab Assembly, 23 seats for PML-N, two for PPP, and one each for PML-Q and IPP were restored. In the Sindh Assembly, MQM secured one seat, and PPP regained two. Nationwide, JUI-F reclaimed 13 seats, PPP 15, and MQM one, with IPP, PML-Q, ANP, and PTI Parliamentarians each regaining one seat.