Reserved seats verdict not a 'conspiracy' against govt: Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Advisor on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said that the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan’s decision in the reserved seats case cannot be termed a ‘conspiracy’ against the government, ARY News reported.

Addressing a presser in Islamabad, Rana Sanaullah said that the judges are also human beings and their opinions can be disagreed with. The PM’s advisor said the federal cabinet will decide availing the option of filing a review petition into the matter, adding that the legal team will be consulted to file a review petition in the apex court.

“If the government does not file a review petition, the suspended members of the assembly may file review appeals,” he added.

Rana Sanaullah said that the government has great regard for the apex court and the judges.

Answering a question, the Advisor said the coalition parties still have majority in the National Assembly as well as provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

Rana Sanaullah said that such relief was given to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which was not even asked for by ‘rewriting the constitution’. “The vague decisions are not in the interest of the country and nation,” he added.

He said that the decision of the apex court is not in favor of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), adding that the request made by the SIC was not accepted but a new decision has come in favor of the PTI.

Earlier in the day, the SC overturned the denial of reserved seats to the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict on a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), an ally of the PTI.

Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Irfan Saadat Khan ruled in favour of the PTI.

The top court nullified the Peshawar High Court’s order wherein it had upheld the ECP’s decision denying the reserved seats to the SIC.

n its order, the apex court said that the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP’s decision of allocating reserved seats to the ruling coalition was unconstitutional.

The bench accepted SIC’s petition and ruled that the party is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats. The apex court accepted PTI as political party and asked Imran Khan-led party to submit reserved seats candidates list to ECP within 15 days.