While challenging legality of recently approved Election Act Amendment Bill in the National Assembly on Wednesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) urged the top court to grant a stay order against electoral watchdog action to allocate reserved seats to other political parties in the House.
Invoking Supreme Court (SC) jurisidiciton under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan through Advocate Salman Akram Raja PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan made the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents.
The National Assembly has approved the bill by a majority vote a day ago despite strong protests and objections from opposition parties. Petitioner urged the top court to declare recently approved Election Act Amendment Bill in the National Assembly null and void terming it “unconstitutional and illegal”.
PTI has also moved the apex court to immediately halt the electoral watchdog from allocating reserved seats to other political parties.
“The PTI has already submitted lists for the reserved seats to the Election Commission,” the petition stated. The party demands that women and non-Muslim reserved seats be allotted to PTI, asserting their entitlement to these seats following the Supreme Court’s July 12 decision.
The top court’s July 12 decision, delivered by a 13-judge full bench, handed a major blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition by declaring that the opposition party PTI is entitled to reserved seats for women and non-Muslims.
A day ago , in a statement delivered on the floor of the National Assembly (NA), Gohar criticised the bill, asserting that it undermines democratic principles. “This parliament is indeed supreme, but the authority to interpret lies with the Supreme Court,” Gohar maintained.
He emphasised the PTI’s commitment to challenging what he described as a “politically motivated” piece of legislation.
On July 19, ECP announced its decision to implement the SC’s ruling which facilitated the PTI-backed MNAs to take part in the assembly’s proceedings under the umbrella of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rather than the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In a press release, the electoral watchdog confirmed its commitment to comply with the court’s directive but instructed its legal team to identify any implementation obstacles promptly.
