Background
The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan issued a significant ruling on Friday, directing that the reserved seats be allocated to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). This decision overturns the previous order by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which the SC deemed unconstitutional. The ruling was backed by eight out of thirteen judges and announced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Key Points of the Judgment
- Election Symbol Withdrawal: The court emphasized that withdrawing an election symbol does not disqualify a political party from participating in elections. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remains recognized as a political party despite the symbol withdrawal.
- Party Disqualification: The judgment reiterated that disqualification from elections cannot be based solely on the withdrawal of an election symbol.
The Full Court
The full court, presided over by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, reserved the judgment after hearing arguments from SIC and PTI lawyers against the PHC’s verdict on reserved seats for women and non-Muslims.
Arguments Presented
Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan and the counsels for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, and Makhdoom Ali Khan argued that the SIC is not entitled to the reserved seats as it did not contest the general elections or win any seats.
Controversial Allocation of Reserved Seats
The SIC has become the new home for PTI-backed independent candidates. The ruling coalition, holding 224 seats in the National Assembly (NA), enjoyed a two-thirds majority in the 336-seat NA. In March, the ECP allocated 21 of the 25 SIC reserved seats to the ruling coalition, a decision that drew strong public backlash. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) received 16 of these seats, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got five.
If these seats are reallocated to SIC, the ruling coalition’s strength would drop to 203 seats, depriving it of its two-thirds majority in the NA.
Previous ECP Decision
In March, a five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja rejected SIC’s petition for the allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies. The ECP’s verdict, passed with a 4-1 majority, stated that SIC was not entitled to these reserved seats.
This ruling has significant implications for the political landscape, potentially altering the balance of power within the National Assembly.
