The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) plans to file a review petition against the Supreme Court’s ruling on the reserved seats allocated to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The ECP is preparing an appeal to challenge the verdict and aims to submit it within the next two days. They also intend to contest the court’s decision to give independent candidates an extended deadline for paper submissions, which deviates from the constitutional three-day limit.
The ECP has objections to the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing candidates without party tickets to contest elections simply by mentioning PTI on their nomination papers. The commission is seeking clarification from the top court, but has not yet received a response.
Read more: PTI Finalizes Women Leaders List for Reserved Seats
The Supreme Court’s 13-member bench ruled in favor of PTI’s eligibility for reserved seats, reversing the Peshawar High Court’s decision which had supported the ECP’s initial denial. This ruling impacted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition and altered the reserved seats distribution among various political parties.
The issue arose after PTI-backed independent candidates won seats in February’s elections. The ECP initially denied reserved seats to these candidates due to the party’s failure to submit their list in time. The Peshawar High Court upheld this decision, but the Supreme Court’s recent ruling changed the outcome, affecting the balance of power in the National Assembly.
