ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday denied the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party, joined by independent lawmakers loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, a share of parliamentary seats reserved for women and minorities.
In Pakistan, there are 70 seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the 336-member National Assembly that are given to political parties on the basis of general seats won by them in national elections.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party couldn’t contest the Feb. 8 election under its iconic electoral symbol, a cricket bat, which was denied over violation of electoral laws of the country.
Consequently, PTI members contested last month’s election as independents and the party later struck an alliance with the SIC in a bid to claim its share of the reserved seats.
“In light of clear provisions of Article 51(6)... SIC is not entitled to claim for the quota for reserved seats for women and non-Muslims due to having non curable legal defects and violation of mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of law,” the ECP said in its decision.
The verdict came shortly after Shehbaz Sharif, who ousted Khan in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022, took oath as prime minister for a second term.
Khan-backed candidates secured more seats than any other party in the polls, but they were outnumbered by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after it forged an alliance with ex-foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and other smaller groups.
The PTI said it would challenge the ECP decision in court.
“Article 51 of the Constitution, states that the National Assembly cannot be deemed complete without the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, proportionate to each political party’s representation,” it said.
“[An] incomplete National Assembly, devoid of reserved seats for women and minorities, is not mandated to function if 23 PTI-backed members are denied their constitutional rights under a dubious scheme.”
Khan’s PTI claims the election was brazenly rigged to prevent its victory, an allegation denied by the ECP and the caretaker government that oversaw the vote.
Analysts say the ECP, by allotting the remaining reserved seats to other political parties, has made things “controversial” in an already polarized political environment.
“This is a major blow for a party that did win the highest number of National Assembly seats despite its symbol being taken away just before the elections,” Mehmal Sarfraz, a political analyst, told Arab News.
“While the prime minister extends an olive branch to the opposition, such verdicts will lead to an even charged atmosphere inside parliament rather than bringing the temperatures down.”
