PTI moves SC for seats order implementation

Requests court to stop ECP from applying amended election law retrospectively

ISLAMABAD:

The PTI has once again approached the Supreme Court, seeking clarification about its July 12 order with regard to allocation of reserved seats to the party against the backdrop of the letters recently sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly speakers.

The PTI candidates were compelled to contest the February 8 general elections as independents in view of a Supreme Court verdict and its misinterpretation by the ECP.

Eighty such independent candidates had reached the National Assembly and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in an apparent bid to claim reserved seats for women and minorities.

The ECP had, however, refused to allocate the seats to the party, a decision that the SIC challenged in the Supreme Court.

On July 12, a full bench of the apex court through a majority of 8 to 5 resurrected the PTI as a parliamentary party, noting that 39 of the lawmakers who had submitted certificates of their affiliation with the PTI along with their nomination papers were already PTI lawmakers.

The SC had ruled that the remaining 41 lawmakers who had not submitted the affiliation certificates at the time of nomination papers' submission could do that now within a period of 15 days.

The ruling coalition while filing a review petition against the SC ruling had amended the country's election law—the Election Act, 2017—barring independent members who joined a political party after announcement of official elections results from switch affiliations.

While the SC on September 14 further clarified its July 12 about allocating the reserved seat to the PTI, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq sent a letter to the ECP on September 19, requesting it to allocate the reserved seats in line with the new amendments. The Punjab Assembly speaker also wrote a similar letter.

The PTI has now filed two separate civil miscellaneous applications in the SC, which is going to take up a government review petition against the court's July 12 order.

One of the applications seeks further clarification of the July 12 order, requesting the court to declare that the amendments to the Election Act, 2017 do not apply retrospectively to the court's July ruling.

The second application states that the letters sent to the ECP by the NA speaker and the speaker of the Punjab Assembly are attempts to hinder implementation on the court's July 12 order.

The application states that while writing the letters, the SC's detailed order of September 14 was ignored, in which the interpretation of constitutional provisions was clearly outlined, addressing every aspect of the matter. The petition asserts that the Supreme Court's constitutional interpretation cannot be rendered ineffective through simple legislation.

The application highlights that in the short order of July 12, the SC recognized the PTI as a parliamentary party, making it eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities.

It contends that after the submission of these affidavits and certificates by the independent members and the issuance of the SC's clarification, the party affiliation of 80 independent members has been determined, and they are now considered elected members of the PTI in the National Assembly.

The petition alleges that the ECP is biased against the PTI and has not implemented the SC's decision. It expresses concern that the ECP, misusing the letters from the speakers of the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly, may refuse to implement the court's decision and allocate the reserved seats to other political parties instead of the PTI.

The petition argues that despite clear orders from the court, the letters from the speakers of the NA and the Punjab Assembly and the ECP's behavior appear aimed at obstructing the implementation of the court's decision.

It urges the court to take action, including contempt of court proceedings, against the Chief Election Commissioner and members of the ECP if deemed appropriate.

It asks the court to declare that the ECP cannot refuse to implement the July 12 decision, that the letters from the speakers of the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly do not reflect the correct legal position, and that these letters have no bearing on the short order of July 12.

The application also states that the SC's decision regarding constitutional interpretation cannot be overridden by simple legislation, and requests the court to order the ECP to disregard the letters from the two speakers and to declare that, in light of the clarifying order of September 14, the ECP is bound to implement the short order of July 12.

It also seeks a declaration that the letters from the NA and the PA speakers hold no legal significance, that the ECP should reject the letter, and that until a decision is made, the ECP should be restrained from distributing the reserved seats among other political parties.