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ECP ACTED UNLAWFULLY AS PTI ELIGIBLE FOR RESERVED SEATS, SC RULES ON SIC PLEAS Saturday, 13 July, 2024 I | 6 Muharram, 1446
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Majority 8-5 verdict of full court bench suspends ECP, PHC decisions on reserved seats
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Rs 20.00 | Vol XV No 13 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PTI was a political party, remains a political party and ECP had incorrectly declared its members as independents: ruling
Verdict instructs PTI to submit a list of its reserved seats candidates within 15 days ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
HE Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ruled that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision of allocating reserved seats to the ruling coalition was un-constitutional. “The order of the Election Commission of Pakistan, dated 1st of March 2024, is declared to be to ultra vires to (beyond the powers of) the Constitution, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” the order of the verdict read while announced by a 13-member full court bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The larger bench comprised of Justices – Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid
Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The majority 8-5 full court bench verdict suspended the previous decisions of ECP and PHC regarding the allocation of reserved seats. The majority verdict was given by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Irfan Saadat, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan,
Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan opposed the majority decision. In his dissenting note, Justice Yahya Afridi said that candidates who provided PTI affiliation certificates should be declared PTI candidates and be allocated reserved seats proportionally. “Candidates of the PTI cannot be declared independent candidates, nor representatives of any other party. The PTI was a political party, remains a political party and the ECP had incorrectly declared members of PTI as independents,” the order said while instructing the PTI
ISLAMABAD: In a landmark ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan granted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) its rightful allocation of reserved seats, a decision hailed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as a historic victory for democratic forces in the country. Surrounded by party leaders, Barrister Gohar addressed the media, emphasizing the persistent struggle against what he described as illegal conduct that previously deprived PTI of its legitimate entitlements. “The Supreme Court’s decision sends a clear message against attempts to undermine PTI,” Barrister Gohar stated, adding that the ruling is founded
on principles of justice and would be remembered in the annals of history. He further urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to swiftly implement the apex court’s directive to ensure the reserved seats are allocated to PTI as ruled. Despite the significance of the ruling for PTI, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar downplayed its impact on the current government’s majority in the National Assembly. Speaking at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, Tarar indicated that the government is reviewing the decision but sees no immediate threat to its standing, given its support from 209 members in the assembly. STAFF REPORT
ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan has hit out at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), insisting Article 6 should be invoked against the ones who misinterpreted the Constitution as the poll conducting authority denied the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its iconic election symbol — bat. Ayub’s remarks come after the Supreme Court’s full bench announced earlier today its reserved verdict with an 85 majority, allowing the PTI to have the seats reserved for women and minorities on the pleas of the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which were earlier rejected by the poll conducting authority. On March 4 this year, the election
Verdict bolsters PTI position, sparks political debate
to submit a list of its reserved seats candidates within 15 days. Justice Ameenuddin Khan rejected the SIC’s appeal while Justice Naeem Afghan agreed with his note. CJP Isa and Justice Jamal Mandokhail noted that the SIC did not win any seats nor submit a list for reserved seats and emphasized the constitutional concept of proportional representation. The SIC had earlier held a large protest outside the apex court ahead of the announcement. Yesterday, the court had reserved its decision on the matter after closing the hearing on a set of appeals moved by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the denial of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). PTI-backed candidates, who had contested and won the February 8 elections as independents after their party was stripped of its election symbol, had joined the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.
PTI calls for resignation of CEC, ECP members
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watchdog announced its reserved verdict, rejecting the Council’s petition, seeking the allocation of reserved seats. Later, the Peshawar High Court was moved with the PTI-SIC requesting the allocation of reserved seats. However, it upheld the ECP ruling on March 14. In the court ruling, the apex court nullified the PHC order. “I congratulate the entire Pakistan on this auspicious day and the entire legal team,” said Ayub — the PTI general-secretary — hailing the top court’s ruling while addressing a press conference flanked by other party leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz, party chairman Gohar Ali Khan and legal wizard Salman Akram Raja on Friday.
Numbers Game: Who are the biggest winners and losers following SC reserved seats case decision? ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Following the announcement of the verdict by the Supreme Court in the reserved seats case, the PTI has now become the single largest party in the National Assembly. The PML-N was the largest single party up until today but is now the second largest. The PML-N’s strength in the House has reduced from 121 to 107 while PPP’s from 72 to 67. Those suspended include 22 members of the National Assembly elected on reserved seats for women and minorities. They include 14 from PML-N, five from PPP and three from JUI-F. The ruling coalition has also lost its two-thirds majority in the lower house of Parliament for now, with its numerical strength shrinking to 209 from 228. In the House of 336, the magic figure to attain a twothirds majority comes to 224. The short order of the decision is yet to be released by the Supreme Court. Reserved seats case In a 4-1 verdict in March, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that the SIC was not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats “due to having noncurable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats.” The commission also decided to distribute the seats among other parliamentary parties, with the PML-N and the PPP becoming major beneficiaries, gaining 16 and five additional seats respectively, while the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) was given four seats. The PTI rejected the verdict as unconstitutional. Later that month, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) dismissed an SIC plea challenging the ECP decision and denied it reserved seats. In April, the SIC filed a petition before the Supreme Court — moved by party chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza — seeking to set aside the PHC judgment. On May 6, the apex court suspended the March 14 PHC judgment as well as the March 1 ECP decision to deprive the SIC of seats reserved for women and minorities. The Supreme Court also ordered placing the present petitions before the three-judge committee that determines the constitution of the bench for the reconstitution of a larger bench. This decision came after Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan highlighted that under Section 4 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, the present case should be heard by a larger bench since the issue concerns the interpretation of constitutional provisions. The ECP subsequently suspended victory notifications of as many as 77 members of the national and provincial assemblies elected on those seats.
Pakistan, Azerbaijan affirm commitment to expand bilateral ties ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan and Azerbaijan have affirmed their commitment to further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of bilateral interest, especially energy, trade, connectivity, defence, and people-to-people linkages. These topics were discussed during a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and the visiting President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Friday. Welcoming President Ilham Aliyev, President Asif Ali Zardari said that both countries enjoyed excellent relations and had a great scope of further improving ties in various areas of mutual interest. He underlined the need for more regular engagements between the people and busi-
nessmen of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to cement bilateral ties. He highlighted the importance of Gwadar port, suggesting that Central Asian Countries and Azerbaijan could benefit from it for promoting regional trade, connectivity and tourism, besides bringing shared economic prosperity to the region. President welcomed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, adding that the MoUs would give a new impetus to bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, commerce, tourism, mines and minerals, science and technology, law & justice, and culture. President highlighted that the East had the potential to lead the world towards prosperity. He added that Pakistan wanted to build a sustainable and result-oriented engagement with Central Asian Republics and Azerbaijan.
Speaking on the occasion, President Ilham Aliyev said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed a high frequency of people-topeople exchanges and both the countries needed to promote business-to-business relations for enhancing economic relations. He stated that Pakistan and Azerbaijan could also explore the possibility of working together in the renewable energy sector. Later, the President also hosted a banquet in honour of President Ilham Aliyev and his delegation, which was also attended by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, Federal Ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, and journalists, at the President’s House. The President expressed his warm greetings for the people of Azerbaijan and reassured Pakistan’s unwavering support for Azerbaijan.