Qazi Faez Isa, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, would preside over the bench. Because of a medical condition, Justice Musarrat Hilali will not be present to hear the case.

The Supreme Court (SC) on May 6 postponed the rulings of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) reserved seats on Monday.

The decision regarding the distribution of reserved seats to other political parties was put on hold by the three-judge panel led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and consisting of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.

“We are suspending the ECP and PHC verdicts,” stated Justice Mansoor Ali Shah after a hearing in the matter was scheduled.

Shah stated that the suspension decision made today only pertains to the distribution of extra seats. He underlined the importance of accurately reflecting the will of the people in Parliament.

Recall that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) had its petitions regarding reserved seats in legislatures dismissed by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in the past.

ECP ruling
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) had previously petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan to be allocated reserved seats as a result of a “merger” with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for this same purpose. However, the plea was denied.

The ECP ruled in the ruling that the SIC’s quota for reserved seats is unwarranted because of “noncurable legal faults and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the need of law”.

“The National Assembly seats shall not remain vacant and shall be allotted by political parties through a proportional representation process based on the seats that their respective parties have won,” the ruling stated.

Reserved seats: Other political parties were given the reserved seats for women and minorities by the electoral commission.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) each received one reserved seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, according a notification from the ECP.

Continue reading: PHC rules on SIC reserved seats, and the SC suspends ECP

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP were given reserved seats in the Sindh Assembly for women. On reserved seats, MQM-P’s Fouzia Hameed and PPP’s Samita Afzal were elected.

In the Sindh Assembly, Sadhu Mal, also known as Surinder Valasai, of the PPP, also won a minority seat.

The ECP gave the PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F, which had been claimed by the Sunni Ittehad Council, three reserved seats for minorities. James Iqbal of JUI-F, Ramesh Kumar of the PPP, and Neelam Meghwar of the PML-N were elected to the minority seats.

SIC secured tickets in advance.
The PTI withdrew its claim to the electoral symbol of the “bat” and its candidates ran as independents when the Supreme Court backed the election supervisor’s decision, ruling that the PTI’s intra-party polls were “unconstitutional.”

The number of legislators from each political party elected to the general assembly determines which parties receive the reserved seats, according to the Constitution. Prior to the elections on February 8, the parties provided the ECP with their priority list of candidates for distribution.

Since independents make up the majority of parliamentarians and are not eligible for reserved seats, the current election landscape differs from that of prior ones.

Three quarters of the 346 reserved seats for women are in the National Assembly (60) and the provincial legislatures of Punjab, Sindh, K-P, and Balochistan (66, 29, 26, and 11).

In the lower house, minorities have ten seats set aside for them. In addition, there are eight, nine, and three reserved seats in the assembly of Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan for minorities, respectively.