PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday stayed the oath-taking of lawmakers nominated for reserved seats for women and minorities in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, following a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P).
PTI-P Chairman Mehmood Khan challenged the March 4, 2024, notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He contended that, based on the party’s success ratio, PTI-P was entitled to three reserved seats for women and one for minorities, but was allocated only one seat.
A two-member PHC bench, comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal, heard the petition filed through PTI-P’s counsel Sultan Muhammad Khan. The court issued notices and sought replies from the ECP.
The petition stated that Arbab Waseem and Iqbal Wazir were elected members of the provincial assembly on PTI-P tickets. It further added that all candidates of PTI had contested the elections as independents and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Due to PTI’s limited representation in the assembly, the reserved seats were distributed among other parliamentary parties. Consequently, PTI-P was allocated only one seat, although the party claimed it was entitled to three reserved seats for women and one for minorities based on its success ratio.
During the hearing, Justice Ali remarked that the petitioner should approach the ECP rather than the court. The counsel argued that the oath-taking of incoming lawmakers would be administered once the assembly session began, which could render the petition ineffective.
He requested the court to delay the oath-taking until the petition was decided. After hearing initial arguments, the court ordered a stay on the oath-taking for the reserved seats and sought a reply from the ECP.
Separately, the Awami National Party (ANP) had also filed a petition with the ECP. Advocate Babar Yousafzai argued that ANP was initially allocated one reserved seat, but following Nisar Baz’s victory in by-elections, the party now holds two general seats in the provincial assembly.
He requested that the ECP revise the allocation of reserved seats to reflect the ANP’s updated strength and grant the party the corresponding reserved seats accordingly.
