ECP seeks legal view on seats allocation

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sought the opinion of its legal wing regarding the letters written by the speakers of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures on the matter of reserved seats.

An ECP meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, was held on Friday to review the letters from the speakers of the national and provincial assemblies. All ECP members were provided copies of the letters for review.

The commission's legal team gave a briefing on the legal aspects of the letters. It later requested its legal wing to provide an opinion on the matter.

The legal department is expected to present its recommendations in the next meeting, which will be held after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. The ECP will make its decision once the legal department's suggestions have been reviewed.

By a majority of 8 to 5, the Supreme Court on July 12 permitted the PTI to claim reserved seats in the NA as it allowed 41 lawmakers—who contested polls as independents and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)—to join the PTI after submission of party affiliation certificates.

To counter this decision, the ruling coalition made amendments to the country election law—the Election Act, 2017—on August 6, barring such a change of party.

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 ECP on September 26 once again approached the SC, seeking guidance on allocation of reserved seats to the PTI. The commission filed a Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA) in the top court, asking as to whether it should implement the Supreme Court's July 12 judgment or abide by the newly passed Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024, enacted by parliament on August 6.