The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a list of candidates for the reserved seats to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). This list includes names such as Sanam Javed, Aliya Hamza Malik, and Yasmin Rashid for seats allocated for women and minorities in various assemblies.
This move follows a July 12 Supreme Court order, which permitted PTI to claim reserved seats, potentially positioning them as the largest parliamentary party. The court had directed PTI to provide the list of its candidates for these reserved seats within 15 days, and mandated that the ECP publish this list on its website within a week.
In compliance, PTI has submitted its candidates for reserved seats in the national, Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. The list includes 67 candidates for women’s reserved seats and 11 for minority seats. Notable names for the National Assembly women’s seats include Javed, Hamza, Kanwal Shauzab, Rubina Shaheen, and Seemabia Tahir. Lal Chand Malhi is nominated for a minority seat in the National Assembly, while Dr. Yasmin Rashid is listed for a women’s reserved seat in the Punjab Assembly.
The day before, the ECP recognized 39 PTI lawmakers—who had initially contested the February 8 elections as independents and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)—as official PTI members, following the Supreme Court’s ruling. PTI, having lost its election symbol, had instructed its candidates to join SIC to qualify for reserved seats.
Despite this, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have filed a review petition challenging the Supreme Court’s decision that granted PTI eligibility for these reserved seats.
