ISLAMABAD — Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday issued decisive ruling regarding the reserved seats controversy, stating that Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) request for clarification was simply a delaying tactic.
The apex court emphasised that this request was delaying the implementation of its earlier judicial decision. In its ruling, the court highlighted that the ECP’s attempt to seek clarification was invalid and criticized the authority for trying to change its position under the guise of seeking further interpretation.
Supreme Court judges pointed out that Election Commission already acknowledged Barrister Gohar as the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), calling the request for clarification unnecessary.
This decision comes after July ruling by full-court bench that overturned the orders of the Peshawar High Court and the electoral watchdog, which removed reserved seats from the Sunni Ittehad Council.
Supreme Court’s ruling confirmed that Imran Khan’s party should be recognized as political party and be granted the reserved seats. The court’s latest ruling reaffirms its stance on the matter and mandates the ECP to implement the reserved seats decision without further delay.
PTI had to run as independents in last general elections after the Supreme Court invalidated the party’s internal elections, resulting in a ban on using the cricket bat symbol.
Despite this, candidates won the most National Assembly seats. To secure reserved seats, they joined the religio-political SIC party. However, the ECP decided not to allocate these reserved seats to them on “technical grounds,” redistributing them to other parties instead.
ECP defended its decision, citing SIC’s ineligibility for reserved seats and adherence to legal requirements.
More details to follow..
