PTI to challenge ECP verdict on reserved seats

Today's decision a stab in the back of democracy, says Barrister Ali Zafar

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday decided to challenge the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Supreme Court, which denied reserved seats for women and minorities to the Sunni Ittehad Council in the National Assembly.

The SIC, a party backed by the PTI, sought these seats through an application that stirred controversy and led to a prolonged deliberation by the electoral body.

A five-member bench, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, reached a 4-1 verdict, declaring that the Sunni Ittehad Council is not entitled to reserved seats in the National Assembly.

Also read: SIC’s reserved seats plea left hanging by ECP

The ECP maintained that these seats would be distributed among other political parties based on their proportional representation. The commission emphasised that reserved seats in the assemblies cannot be left vacant.

In his address during a Senate session following the verdict, PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar said that the ECP’s decision is a stab in the back of democracy. He emphasised that it is the responsibility of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies to elect senators, the president, the prime minister, and the chairman Senate, and incomplete assemblies cannot fulfil these elections.

He said that Section 6 (D) of the Constitution’s Article 51 mentions that political parties will be allocated reserve seats based on their success ratio.

He highlighted that according to the Constitution, if an independent candidate joins a political party, that party is entitled to reserve seats, adding that SIC should have been allotted 29 seats in NA.

He criticized the decision of the ECP, stating, "The Supreme Court deprived us of electoral symbols through unconstitutional decisions, while the ECP has stabbed democracy in the back by not allocating reserve seats today."

"After the decision of the ECP, presidential and Senate elections should be postponed because we have been deprived of our reserve seats. We will go to the Supreme Court to reverse this illegal move, and then prime minister, presidential elections, and Senate elections will have to be held again," he asserted.