The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected a petition by the Sunni Ittehad Council, which is backed by the PTI, seeking reserved seats. The 4-1 majority verdict was issued by a five-member bench headed by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja. ECP member Babar Hassan Bharwana dissented from the judgment.
The SIC, joined by PTI-backed lawmakers after winning elections without their poll symbol, had requested reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies. However, the ECP did not consider the plea as applications were filed opposing the allocation of seats to SIC, citing that it was not a parliamentary party and had not submitted a priority list of candidates for reserved seats.
After hearings and arguments, the ECP ruled that SIC did not meet the legal requirements for reserved seats as it did not contest elections for any seat in the assemblies and failed to submit a priority list for reserved seats as required by law. The commission rejected SIC’s petition and accepted pleas against the allocation of reserved seats to the council.
In a dissent note, ECP member Bharwana partially agreed with the decision but disagreed with the allocation of seats through proportional representation to other parties. The PTI has announced plans to challenge the verdict, calling it a threat to democracy.
The ECP had withheld the allocation of 78 out of 226 reserved seats for women in the national and provincial assemblies, all of which were to go to SIC. The commission had already allocated seats to various political parties based on the seats won in the elections.