Islamabad, In a major legal victory for the party of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is eligible for allocation of seats reserved for women and minorities in the Parliament and in provincial elections. Assemblies.
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) had filed an appeal challenging the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) upholding the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deny its participation in the reserved seats in the National Assembly and the assemblies. provincial.
A 13-member full court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case and the long-awaited ruling is seen as a major setback for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's ruling coalition. Pakistan Party-backed candidates Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf ( ), who had contested and won the February 8 elections as independents after their party was stripped of its electoral symbol, had joined hands with the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.
On Friday, the high court set aside the PHC's decision and also declared the election commission's decision “null and void”, calling it “against the Constitution of Pakistan”.
“[The] removal of the electoral symbol cannot disqualify a political party from the elections,” the court declared, referring to the fact that the electoral commission did not allow the use of the cricket bat as an electoral symbol. “It was and is a political party.” , the court ruled. Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, founded in 1996.
The decision, announced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, was made by a majority of eight judges.
Meanwhile, reacting to the apex court verdict, he said the party "has been hopeful that justice will be done in the end as there was no provision in the constitution of Pakistan which could strip a party of its proportional quota or of the quota". could be assigned to other parties.”A post from the official X account also demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja for “violating [the] Constitution of Pakistan.”
Imran Khan's former aide Fawad Chaudhry echoed the sentiments of the party account and also demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner in an X position. He said they should “demand the resignation of the ECP after the SCP has filed official charges with the ECP.”
Party spokesperson Raoof Hassan also extended his “warm congratulations” to X, praising the Supreme Court for “breaking the barriers of intimidation”. "This is just the beginning of a long road until we reach the final destination when Imran Khan takes over as Prime Minister of Pakistan," he said. "Soon, very soon." Earlier, after concluding the hearing on Tuesday, the 13 judges spent two days in mutual consultation before announcing the verdict.
Initially, the court announced that a three-member regular court headed by the Chief Justice would announce the verdict at 9 am, but soon after, the timing was changed and the court announcing the verdict was changed when it was announced that the court original of 13- The member court would issue the sentence at noon.
The dispute over the reserved seats was related to the rejection of a request by the SIC by the ECP to grant its share of the 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and another 156 in the four provincial assemblies. The party was unable to participate in the elections on February 8 because the ECP rejected its internal elections and deprived it of the bat symbol to participate in the elections as a party.
She was therefore ineligible to claim the seats reserved for women and minorities that are awarded to winning parties on the basis of proportional representation.
Thus, the leaders asked their candidates, who had won independently but with the support of , to join an SIC to form a parliamentary party that would claim reserved seats. The union of legislators made the SIC prominent, which therefore The rest was an inactive entity.
The ECP rejected the SIC's request for reserved seats on the pretext that it had not participated in the elections as a party and only gained strength when independently elected and endorsed candidates joined its ranks after winning the elections. Their appeal against the ECP's decision to the Peshawar High Court was also rejected in March, forcing the party to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In an unusual move, a full 13-member court presided over the hearing and announced the verdict at the insistence of SIC lawyers. Earlier, on May 6, the Supreme Court, in a major relief from the High Court's decision of Peshawar to reject the SIC statement, suspended. Following the ruling, on May 14, the ECP suspended the victory notifications of 77 candidates, who belonged to other parties and were declared winners in the reserved seats.
The high court's final ruling in the case decided the fate of those 77 reserved seats. Although it may not change the current power structure, changes in the overall numerical game in assemblies may affect law-making in the country.
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) had filed an appeal challenging the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) upholding the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deny its participation in the reserved seats in the National Assembly and the assemblies. provincial.
A 13-member full court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case and the long-awaited ruling is seen as a major setback for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's ruling coalition. Pakistan Party-backed candidates Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf ( ), who had contested and won the February 8 elections as independents after their party was stripped of its electoral symbol, had joined hands with the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.
On Friday, the high court set aside the PHC's decision and also declared the election commission's decision “null and void”, calling it “against the Constitution of Pakistan”.
“[The] removal of the electoral symbol cannot disqualify a political party from the elections,” the court declared, referring to the fact that the electoral commission did not allow the use of the cricket bat as an electoral symbol. “It was and is a political party.” , the court ruled. Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, founded in 1996.
The decision, announced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, was made by a majority of eight judges.
Meanwhile, reacting to the apex court verdict, he said the party "has been hopeful that justice will be done in the end as there was no provision in the constitution of Pakistan which could strip a party of its proportional quota or of the quota". could be assigned to other parties.”A post from the official X account also demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja for “violating [the] Constitution of Pakistan.”
Imran Khan's former aide Fawad Chaudhry echoed the sentiments of the party account and also demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner in an X position. He said they should “demand the resignation of the ECP after the SCP has filed official charges with the ECP.”
Party spokesperson Raoof Hassan also extended his “warm congratulations” to X, praising the Supreme Court for “breaking the barriers of intimidation”. "This is just the beginning of a long road until we reach the final destination when Imran Khan takes over as Prime Minister of Pakistan," he said. "Soon, very soon." Earlier, after concluding the hearing on Tuesday, the 13 judges spent two days in mutual consultation before announcing the verdict.
Initially, the court announced that a three-member regular court headed by the Chief Justice would announce the verdict at 9 am, but soon after, the timing was changed and the court announcing the verdict was changed when it was announced that the court original of 13- The member court would issue the sentence at noon.
The dispute over the reserved seats was related to the rejection of a request by the SIC by the ECP to grant its share of the 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and another 156 in the four provincial assemblies. The party was unable to participate in the elections on February 8 because the ECP rejected its internal elections and deprived it of the bat symbol to participate in the elections as a party.
She was therefore ineligible to claim the seats reserved for women and minorities that are awarded to winning parties on the basis of proportional representation.
Thus, the leaders asked their candidates, who had won independently but with the support of , to join an SIC to form a parliamentary party that would claim reserved seats. The union of legislators made the SIC prominent, which therefore The rest was an inactive entity.
The ECP rejected the SIC's request for reserved seats on the pretext that it had not participated in the elections as a party and only gained strength when independently elected and endorsed candidates joined its ranks after winning the elections. Their appeal against the ECP's decision to the Peshawar High Court was also rejected in March, forcing the party to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In an unusual move, a full 13-member court presided over the hearing and announced the verdict at the insistence of SIC lawyers. Earlier, on May 6, the Supreme Court, in a major relief from the High Court's decision of Peshawar to reject the SIC statement, suspended. Following the ruling, on May 14, the ECP suspended the victory notifications of 77 candidates, who belonged to other parties and were declared winners in the reserved seats.
The high court's final ruling in the case decided the fate of those 77 reserved seats. Although it may not change the current power structure, changes in the overall numerical game in assemblies may affect law-making in the country.
