Pakistan

Women quota: IHC reserves verdict on reserved seat row

Counsel for JUI-F chief says Election Commission of Pakistan has not yet held a recount.

Qaiser Zulfiqar December 14, 2011

ISLAMABAD:

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, pertaining to the quota of special seats reserved for women in the National Assembly from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The counsel of Rahman, Kamran Murtaza, contended before a division bench that there were eight special seats reserved for women in the province of K-P, apart from a total of 35 NA seats.

Murtaza informed the court that as per the formula, eight reserved seats were to be divided proportionately among parties depending on how many NA seats they won, adding Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) won 10 NA seats each in the 2008 elections whereas JUl-F Islam won three seats. Murtaza argued that JUI-F had been deprived of a reserved seat, saying that PPP and ANP were awarded two special seats in the NA as one special seat was given against every four seats in the NA, ignoring his client who had won 3 NA seats.

Furthermore, the counsel said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had issued a notification for a recount on March 17, 2008 but the notification had not yet been implemented with the application still pending in the ECP.

Meanwhile, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haq and PPP counsel Waseem Sajjad argued that the court was not an appropriate forum for the issue and that the petitioner should approach the election tribunal in this regard. After arguments by the petitioner and defendant, the court reserved its verdict on the matter and adjourned the hearing.

In another case, Justice Shaukat Siddiqui issued notices to the secretaries of interior and establishment division as well as the director general immigration and passport cell for the out-of-turn appointments for the post of deputy directors.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2011.