PTI challenges election amendments about reserved seats in the Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, challenging the recent amendments to the Election Act 2017. These amendments, which were passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday, are seen as an attempt to “circumvent” the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling on the issue of reserved seats.

The petition, submitted under Article 184(3) of the Constitution by PTI Chairman Gohar Khan through his lawyer, Barrister Salman Akram Raja, calls on the Supreme Court to declare the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024, “null and void.”

The bill, initially introduced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani last month, was pushed through both the National Assembly and the Senate by the PML-N-led coalition, despite strong opposition from PTI and other opposition parties.

PTI strongly criticized the move, arguing that once the bill is enacted following the president’s approval, it would effectively “reverse” the party’s potential comeback in the assemblies.

The legislation includes a provision that prohibits independent candidates from changing their party affiliations at a later stage, as specified in their initial affidavits.

Earlier, the National Assembly approved a bill proposing amendments to the Elections Act 2017 in order to bar lawmakers from changing their party affiliation at a later stage.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf MNA protested in the National Assembly against the approval of the bills on Tuesday.

Once enacted, the legislation will prevent individuals who ran in the general election as independent candidates from later changing their affidavit to declare affiliation with any political party.

This law could potentially block the PTI’s return to parliament after its “resurrection” in the assemblies following the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling, which had declared Imran Khan’s party eligible for reserved seats.

Since that ruling, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has notified 93 lawmakers from three provincial assemblies as PTI members, including 29 from Punjab, 58 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and six from Sindh.

Additionally, 39 National Assembly members who had declared their affiliation with PTI in their nomination papers have also been officially recognized as PTI members by the ECP.

The National Assembly’s agenda for Tuesday was led by a bill to amend election laws, aiming to prevent the PTI from securing reserved seats following the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling.