Pakistan: ECP files another plea seeking stay on top court's reserved seats verdict

Earlier on Friday, the electoral watchdog, approached the top court to seek its guidance on whether to follow the amended Election Act 2017 or its judgment on the matter of allocating reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has submitted two more petitions to the apex court, seeking a stay on its July 12 order in the reserved seats case, reported Geo News. In its 70-page detailed judgment issued on September 23, the apex court termed the PTI "a political party" and eligible for the seats reserved for women and minorities.

Earlier on Friday, the electoral watchdog, approached the top court to seek its guidance on whether to follow the amended Election Act 2017 or its judgment on the matter of allocating reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The ECP cited the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq's letter stating that amendments were made to the Election Act after the Pak SC verdict declared the opposition party eligible for the reserved seats.

Speaker Sadiq had told the ECP in his letter that the apex court's July 12 ruling was "incapable of implementation" after the amendments to the Election Act 2017, according to Geo News. In addition to the civil miscellaneous petition, the Pak Election Commission also filed two other petitions for review concerning the 'clarification order' and sought a stay on the July 12 order's implementation till the pleas were decided.

Through the petitions, the commission sought the top court's guidance with respect to the effect of the Elections (Second) Amendment Act, 2024 on the short order of the apex court of July 12, clarification order dated Sept 14 and detailed judgment dated September 23 in the interest of justice. The ECP, in its petition, noted the apex court's reserved seats verdict was based on "assumptions", adding: "It cannot rewrite the Constitution on pretext of interpretation."

The Supreme Court in its detailed judgment dated Sept 23, 2024, deviated from [the] July 12 verdict, it said, noting that the court in the detailed order declared the 41 returned candidates as the members of the former ruling party. The ECP pointed out that the Constitution binds independent lawmakers to join any political party within three days, but "the Supreme Court granted them 15 days" a move which changed the words of the Constitution."

The independent candidates submitted affidavits of allegiance to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which the body says, was "completely ignored" in the court's ruling. "Even if the certificates, submitted by PTI Chairman [Barrister Gohar Ali Khan], are recognised or accepted, the number of PTI members does not reach 39," the ECP said, adding that the candidates did not submit party affiliation certificates under Section 66 of the Election Act.

The electoral body maintained that the reserved seats cannot be allocated to the Imran Khan-founded party claiming that PTI did not claim its share at any forum. In what it called a major victory for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a 13-member full bench of the top court on July 12 ruled that the Imran Khan-founded party was eligible for the allocation of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, nullifying the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision denying the reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), as reported by Geo News.

The PTI candidates contested the Feb 8 general elections as independents after the top court upheld the ECP decision to deprive the opposition party of its iconic electoral symbol 'bat' over "unlawful" intra-party polls. The decision made the PTI-backed winning candidates to join the SIC in a bid to claim reserved seats. However, the ECP denied the reserved seats to the SIC over its failure to submit the list of candidates within the stipulated time. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)