The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday withdrew notifications that had declared returned candidates as members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) while also notifying the returned candidates of pending reserved seats in all assemblies.
Citing the June 27 ruling of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, the ECP said it was withdrawing all notifications that had declared returned candidates against general seats of the National Assembly, Punjab Assembly, Sindh Assembly and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly as returned candidates of the PTI.
In its ruling on review petitions against its 2024 ruling granting reserved seats for women and minorities to the PTI, the Constitutional Bench declared the party was not entitled to the same. The short order set aside the July 12, 2024 majority ruling and dismissed appeals filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against a Peshawar High Court ruling that had initially declared the SIC—and by extension the PTI—ineligible for reserved seats for women and minorities. The order applies to all provincial assemblies and the National Assembly.
The July 2024 order had ruled that 39 of 80 MNAs were the returned candidates of the PTI, and had granted the remainder 15 days to switch their allegiance from the SIC back to the PTI, allowing the party to gain the contested reserved seats. The original ruling had also rejected the appeals filed by the SIC, maintaining it cannot take reserved seats as per the Constitution. However, it had said, the PTI was eligible. It had directed the ECP to publish the list of reserved seats of the candidates on its website within seven days.
Referring to the Constitutional Bench’s ruling, the ECP has also notified the pending returned candidates for reserved seats for women and minorities in all assemblies.
National Assembly
In the Lower House, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has gained two seats for women from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 10 from Punjab. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has similarly gained two seats for women from KP and one from Punjab. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) has gained one seat for women from KP.
The JUIF, PPP and PMLN have all gained one seat each for non-Muslims in the National Assembly.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
According to the notification, the PMLN has gained six reserved seats for women in the KP Assembly; the JUIF has gained eight; the PPP six; and the Awami National Party (ANP) one.
The JUIF has also gained two seats for non-Muslims in the KP Assembly, while the PMLN and the PPP have gained one each.
Punjab Assembly
In the Punjab Assembly, the PMLN has gained 21 reserved seats for women and two seats reserved for non-Muslims. The PPP has gained one reserved seat each for women and non-Muslims; while the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) have gained one reserved seat each for women.
Sindh Assembly
The PPP has gained one reserved seat each for women and non-Muslims in the Sindh Assembly, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has gained one reserved seat for women in the provincial legislature.