ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to hear a petition today filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) July 2 notification, which allocated 21 reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.
Led by Pervaiz Khattak, PTI-P alleges that the ECP unlawfully deprived the party of its rightful share of reserved seats. The party claims this occurred due to an incorrect count of general seats won by PTI-P in the February 8 elections. The petition argues that allowing the notified lawmakers to take oath would cause “irreversible prejudice” and render PTI-P’s main constitutional petition ineffective.
PTI-P contends that the ECP’s March 4 notification mistakenly recorded the party as winning only one general seat in KP, when it had, in fact, secured two: PK-73 and PK-103. This miscalculation, the party asserts, resulted in the loss of at least three reserved seats for women and non-Muslims that should have been allocated to PTI-P under the proportional representation system. Despite this alleged discrepancy, the ECP proceeded to issue the July 2 notification for reserved seats based on what PTI-P describes as a “fundamentally flawed” premise.
The dispute over reserved seat allocation was also previously under review in the Peshawar High Court (PHC). The PHC initially granted a stay on the oath-taking process following a petition by PTI-P. However, during a subsequent hearing, a two-member PHC bench questioned the PTI-P’s ability to litigate in PHC while a similar matter was pending before the IHC. After clarification from PTI-P’s counsel that the parliamentary leader who filed the PHC petition was unaware of the IHC proceedings, PTI-P withdrew its petition. Consequently, the PHC bench dismissed the plea and recalled the stay order granted on July 1.
Islamabad High Court, Election Commission, Pakistan Politics
