ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has stated that the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) reserved seats does not endanger the incumbent coalition government.
“We still have a majority of 209 members, and the verdict has not been finalized yet,” the minister remarked following the Supreme Court’s ruling that PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats. Tarar added that it is the federal cabinet’s prerogative, not the minister’s, to decide whether to file a review petition against the verdict.
This development follows the Supreme Court’s 8-5 majority verdict, which nullified the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to deny reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat Khan supported the ruling.
The PTI candidates, who did not contest the polls on a single election symbol, were forced to join hands with the SIC but were denied reserved seats by the ECP. The Supreme Court declared that the lack or denial of an election symbol does not affect a political party’s Constitutional or legal rights to participate in elections and that the commission must apply all statutory provisions accordingly.
The court ruled that PTI, which secured general seats in the national and provincial assemblies in the 2024 general elections, should be allocated reserved seats in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh. PTI has been ordered to present a list of eligible candidates within 15 days.
During a press conference, Tarar described the verdict as “interesting” and pointed out that the SIC, not PTI, had claimed the reserved seats. He emphasized that no judgment can be given against someone without hearing them, and the majority of the parties were not present in court.
Tarar noted that 80 candidates had claimed to belong to SIC, not PTI, highlighting constitutional and legal flaws in the verdict that will remain under discussion.
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