PML-N emerges biggest beneficiary of CB ruling
The National Assembly regained its full strength on Wednesday as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) distributed reserved seats among the parliamentary parties in the house, in line with the decision of the Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court last week.
In a 7-3 majority ruling in the reserved seats review case, the CB on Friday overturned the Supreme Court's July 12, 2024 judgment, effectively taking away the reserved seats from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and handing them to their rival parties in the national and provincial legislatures.
The CB restored the March 25, 2024, order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which had deprived the Sunni Ittehad Council – the party joined by PTI-backed independents after the Feb 8, 2024 elections – of reserved seats. The decision effectively meant that the PTI was no longer a parliamentary party.
Therefore, the 77 reserved seats of the national and provincial assemblies were allocated among the parliamentary parties present in the respective assemblies, since they could not be kept vacant. As expected the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PKL-N) was the major beneficiary.
In the light of the CB decision, the ECP distributed 19 reserved seats in the National Assembly, out of which, according to an ECP statement, 13 went to the PML-N, four for the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and two to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).
After the allocation of the reserved seats, the ruling coalition, comprising PML-N, PPPP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and other parties, surged above the two-thirds majority of 224 in the 336-strong house.
Acting on the court's verdict, the ECP issued an order on Wednesday, withdrawing its notifications of July 24 and 29, 2024 that had declared some independent candidates, winning on the general seats of the national and provincial assemblies as PTI lawmakers.
In another order, the ECP notified the names of the returned candidates under various categories of the reserved seats with immediate effect. The National Assembly Secretariat later detailed the house composition, reflecting the actual party position after the court verdict and ECP's distribution.
The data released by the Secretariat's Legislation Branch showed that the strength of the treasury benches swelled to 235 seats, with 98 of the opposition, in the house currently comprised 333 lawmakerswith one member being suspended and two reserved seats remaining vacant.
The ECP also distributed the reserved seats in the provincial assemblies. In the K-P Assembly, 10 seats were given to the JUI-F, seven to the PML-N, six to the PPPP and one each to the PTI-Parliamentarians and Awami National Party (ANP).
The PML-N was given 23 seats in the Punjab Assembly – two to the PPPP and one each to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). In the Sindh Assembly, two seats were given to the PPPP and one to the MQM-P.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
41 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Imran 'found linked' to May 9: LHC
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has observed while referring to the testimonies of two police officials that former prime minister Imran Khan has been found involved in a conspiracy hatched for the violent events that occurred on May 9, 2023. An LHC division bench headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi issued the detailed order regarding the dismissal of Khan's post-arrest bail applications recently. The bench had dismissed the bail applications in eight first information reports (FIRs) registered against the former PM in connection with the May 9 riots. Inspector Ismat Kamal and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Hassan Afzal had in their statements termed Imran Khan the mastermind of the incidents that had occurred on May 9. They said that in meetings held on May 4, 2023, at the Chakri Rest Area in Rawalpindi, and on May 7 and 9 in Lahore, Khan had given directions to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership to attack military and sate installations in addition to police officials to build pressure in case he was arrested. The officials stated that the leader had said that no one should go home until his release. They said the party leadership had termed Imran their red line and said they would jam the country by inciting the public if he was arrested. The court observed that the role attributed to the petitioner, as evident from the reproduced statements, attracts the provisions of Section 120-B and Section 121-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which stood applied in the case. The reproduced statements of Inspector Ismat Kamal and ASI Hassan Afzal prima facie reflect that a conspiracy and abetment related to the offences committed on May 9 were perpetrated by the petitioner in different meetings, it observed. Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court summoned more prosecution witnesses on July 10 in a case registered against PTI leaders regarding the May 9 riots after the arrest of the party's founding chairman. The ATC judge recorded the statements of five prosecution witnesses in the case. Sarwar Road police had registered the case against the leaders over disturbing law and order, creating chaos, arson and inciting the public after the arrest. The ATC extended the bail hearing till July 8 of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Umar Sarfraz Cheema and other leaders in cases registered against in connection with the riots. In another case of setting ablaze vehicles outside Jinnah House, the judge fixed July 10 for further proceedings. Defamation case A district court reserved its decision on Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif's application for making a legal notice part of the record and to record secondary evidence in a defamation suit against Imran Khan. The district court judge was hearing the PM's defamation suit filed against the PTI founder, seeking Rs10 billion in compensation over an accusation of offering him bribe to withdraw the Panama Papers case. The PTI counsel opposed the application, arguing that the legal notice was not signed by the petitioner and no secondary evidence could be recorded at this stage. The petitioner's counsel argued that suit had been filed after fulfilling legal formalities and the notice had been sent. He requested the court to allow secondary evidence. After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge reserved the decision, which is likely to be announced by July 10. On June 2, the prime minister had replied to the queries of the counsel representing the PTI founding chairman during cross-examination. The queries revolved around PM Shehbaz Sharif's affidavit, including its content, institution, stamps, attestation and other aspects of the case. The PM had appeared through video link. He had admitted that his name had been neither mentioned in the anchorperson's questions nor in the replies given by the respondent, but asserted that it was clear that the baseless accusations were aimed at him.
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Regime change in K-P?
Listen to article The simmering row between Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the federal government is a precursor to more political instability. The reported moves by the ruling coalition at the Center to dislodge the PTI dispensation in Peshawar are ill-advised. The seasoned men at the helm in Islamabad should desist from any such brinkmanship. It is unfortunate that no lessons have been learnt from such bitter episodes of our chequered political history, as democracy and public representation are falling down the abyss. Thus, the evolving diatribe of regime change in K-P will not only have a severe political fallout, especially as the opposition is already pushed to the wall, but also grave ramifications for the restive province that is engaged in a showdown with non-state actors. The opportunity to dismantle the PTI's two-third majority in K-P has arisen in the wake of the Constitutional Bench's decision on reserved seats. While the party has been stripped of its due share, the wafer-thin opposition in the provincial legislature is all set to grab 25 seats — something that emboldens them to usher in a change of guard by luring 35 more legislators into their ranks. But it goes without saying that this floor-crossing, under coercion, will breed discontent and instability. Other measures being contemplated are dissolution of the assembly and imposing Governor Rule. But such tactics — resorted to in Punjab, Balochistan and K-P in the past — are unlikely to stand in the court of law, or in public opinion. The federation should avoid being judgmental on K-P government's performance, as it is not its cup of tea. The way ahead is to let the Gandapur government be on its own, and launch efforts to kickstart a dialogue for bringing down the political temperature. PTI's stance that it is open for talks should be responded to by the coalition in Islamabad with a sincere roadmap, which could entail redressing grievances of the party, especially release of political prisoners including former PM Imran Khan. Such a move would offset PTI's plans for agitation, and usher in a semblance of serenity.
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Express Tribune
PML-N emerges biggest beneficiary of CB ruling
Listen to article The National Assembly regained its full strength on Wednesday as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) distributed reserved seats among the parliamentary parties in the house, in line with the decision of the Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court last week. In a 7-3 majority ruling in the reserved seats review case, the CB on Friday overturned the Supreme Court's July 12, 2024 judgment, effectively taking away the reserved seats from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and handing them to their rival parties in the national and provincial legislatures. The CB restored the March 25, 2024, order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which had deprived the Sunni Ittehad Council – the party joined by PTI-backed independents after the Feb 8, 2024 elections – of reserved seats. The decision effectively meant that the PTI was no longer a parliamentary party. Therefore, the 77 reserved seats of the national and provincial assemblies were allocated among the parliamentary parties present in the respective assemblies, since they could not be kept vacant. As expected the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PKL-N) was the major beneficiary. In the light of the CB decision, the ECP distributed 19 reserved seats in the National Assembly, out of which, according to an ECP statement, 13 went to the PML-N, four for the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and two to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). After the allocation of the reserved seats, the ruling coalition, comprising PML-N, PPPP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and other parties, surged above the two-thirds majority of 224 in the 336-strong house. Acting on the court's verdict, the ECP issued an order on Wednesday, withdrawing its notifications of July 24 and 29, 2024 that had declared some independent candidates, winning on the general seats of the national and provincial assemblies as PTI lawmakers. In another order, the ECP notified the names of the returned candidates under various categories of the reserved seats with immediate effect. The National Assembly Secretariat later detailed the house composition, reflecting the actual party position after the court verdict and ECP's distribution. The data released by the Secretariat's Legislation Branch showed that the strength of the treasury benches swelled to 235 seats, with 98 of the opposition, in the house currently comprised 333 lawmakerswith one member being suspended and two reserved seats remaining vacant. The ECP also distributed the reserved seats in the provincial assemblies. In the K-P Assembly, 10 seats were given to the JUI-F, seven to the PML-N, six to the PPPP and one each to the PTI-Parliamentarians and Awami National Party (ANP). The PML-N was given 23 seats in the Punjab Assembly – two to the PPPP and one each to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). In the Sindh Assembly, two seats were given to the PPPP and one to the MQM-P.
