The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is poised to become the single largest party in the National Assembly, while the ruling coalition appears likely to lose its two-thirds majority following the Supreme Court’s judgment declaring PTI eligible for reserved seats, according to a report by Pakistan-based daily, The Dawn.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that PTI is entitled to a share of reserved seats in both national and provincial assemblies. This landmark judgment, delivered on Friday by a 13-member bench in an 8-5 ruling, represents a significant setback for the coalition government.
The case was initially filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a political party with PTI-backed candidates who joined after the February 8 general election, which they were compelled to contest as independents due to PTI being barred from using its electoral symbol, a cricket bat, because of alleged electoral law violations. Despite this, PTI candidates ran as independents and secured 93 seats in the National Assembly, surpassing all other parties.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) followed with 75 seats, while the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secured 54 seats. Imran Khan’s refusal to ally with any rival party led the PML-N and PPP to form a coalition government with smaller parties.
PTI
PTI-backed candidates, having won as independents, later aligned with SIC to form a coalition. The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday overturned the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) ruling and nullified the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision, declaring it unconstitutional.
PTI members have praised the Supreme Court’s decision.
The issue of reserved seats gained prominence after over 80 PTI-backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections. The SIC then approached the ECP on February 21 seeking the allocation of reserved seats. However, the ECP, citing PTI’s failure to submit its list of candidates, denied the allocation of reserved seats to the SIC in a 4-1 majority verdict on March 4.