In Islamabad, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the notification of 39 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) as PTI legislators. This follows the Supreme Court’s decision on the reserved seats case.
The decision was made in a session led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. Last week, the ECP decided to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Previously, the ECP confirmed that the 39 MNAs had declared their PTI affiliation in their nomination papers. The ECP spokesperson stated there was no misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s verdict. The intra-party elections of PTI were not validated because they were not compliant with the law. Candidates who submitted their nomination papers without a party ticket and declaration could not be recognized as PTI candidates.
Supreme Court Verdict
A 13-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled that PTI was entitled to the reserved seats. This was a major setback for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah delivered the 8-5 majority verdict, overturning the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision which had supported the ECP’s denial of the reserved seats to PTI.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan dissented from the majority decision.
Reserved Seats Issue
The issue began when over 80 independent candidates backed by PTI won in the February 8 elections. PTI approached the ECP on February 21 for the allocation of reserved seats. The ECP, citing PTI’s failure to submit its list of candidates, denied the allocation on March 4. The ECP then distributed the reserved seats among other parties.
PTI sought court intervention, and the PHC upheld the ECP’s decision. PTI then appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 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 the Sindh Assembly, reserved seats for women were allocated to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP.
The PHC ruling allowed the ruling coalition of PML-N, PPP, and allies to secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, increasing PML-N’s seats to 123, PPP’s to 73, while PTI held 82 seats.