SIC challenges ECP's reserved seats allocation in LHC

The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a coalition of lawmakers backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the recent decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to allocate reserved seats meant for it to other political parties.

The SIC, which was denied its requested reserved seats earlier this week, claimed the ECP's decision is illegal, unlawful, and goes against the Constitution.

The ECP, following the rejection of the SIC's request, initiated the process of allocating the disputed reserved seats to other parliamentary parties. According to notifications issued by the commission, reserved seats for minorities and women have been distributed among various parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

In the petition filed today, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza labeled the ECP's order as unconstitutional and requested the court to suspend its operation. The petition also urged the court to restrain the respondents from taking oath until a final decision is reached.

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The SIC argued that the ECP's allocation of reserved seats was not in line with the Constitution and requested the court to direct the commission to allocate seats based on the party's strength in the National Assembly and the provincial assembly of Punjab.

Advocate Ishtiaq A. Khan, representing the SIC, contended that the petitioner had written four letters to the ECP on February 21, 2024, seeking the party's rightful share in the reserved seats. The ECP, however, allegedly ignored these requests and scheduled a preliminary hearing on February 27, 2024.

The petition further highlighted that the ECP, in its order announced on March 4, 2024, refused to allocate the reserved seats to the SIC and directed them to be allotted to other parties. The SIC argued that the ECP misinterpreted and misapplied the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Election Act, 2017.

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"The entire scheme of the 'reserved seats' as provided in the Constitution does not envisage the 'allocation of any reserved seat' to a 'political party' over and above its due share 'proportionate to the number of seats it has won," the petition stated.

The SIC's chairman emphasised that the election commission's reliance on the election schedule and date for submission of the priority list, as per Section 104 of the Election Act, should not supersede the provisions of Article 51 of the Constitution.