The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is to hold another meeting today to consult a legal expert on how to respond to the Supreme Court’s (SC) recent verdict regarding the allocation of reserved seats to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
The Commission has been conducting meetings on a daily basis since last week to discuss the legal quandary arising after the parliament passed the Election Amendment Act 2024, Informed sources told Dawn.
It further claimed, “But the situation has changed after the announcement of the detailed judgement of the Supreme Court, and the commission will meet again on Tuesday to seek the opinion of the legal expert.”
Earlier, the ECP’s law wing claimed that PTI had no organisational structure and refused to allocate reserved seats to PTI.
On August 8, President Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari signed the Election Amendments Act 2024, which ultimately clashes with the Supreme Court’s July 12, 2024 reserved seats verdict.
Election Amendment Act 2024 stated, “If a political party fails to submit its list for reserved seats within the prescribed time, it will not be entitled to reserved seats of women and non-muslims candidates.
Last week, Speaker of National Assembly (NA) Ayaz Sadiq penned a letter to Chief ECP Sikander Sultan Raja, which reads, “The amended Elections Act is in the field and, therefore, it is the statutory obligation of the ECP to honour the laws made by Parliament and uphold the principles of democracy and parliamentary supremacy.”
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