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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf approaches SC for implementation of reserved seats verdict

The reserved seats issue gained prominence after more than 80 PTI-backed candidates secured a win in the elections conducted on February 8

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has approached the Supreme Court (SC) for implementation of its verdict on the reserved seats, ARY News reported.

According to details, Advocate Azhar Bhandari has filed the plea, requesting the court to order the Election Commission to implement the judgment.

The petition has requested the court to direct the Election Commission to issue certificates of affiliation to independent candidates and take action on the short order issued on July 12.

In addition, the petition has urged the court to dismiss the electoral watchdog's request for clarification on the verdict. PTI stated that the Election Commission's decision to not implement the judgment has caused undue delay.

A 13-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, declared that the PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, causing a major setback to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's ruling coalition.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, setting aside the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the electoral watchdog's decision to deny the reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), according to ARY News report.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan have opposed the majority decision.

The reserved seats issue gained prominence after more than 80 PTI-backed candidates secured a win in the elections conducted on February 8, ARY News reported.

The SIC then moved the ECP on February 21, requesting the allocation of reserved seats. However, the Imran Khan-founded party faced a major setback after the ECP, citing the party's failure to give its list of candidates, denied allocating the reserved seats to the SIC through its 4-1 majority verdict on March 4.

The ECP distributed the reserved seats for women and minorities among other political parties. The PTI-backed SIC had moved the court following the electoral watchdog's refusal to allocate the reserved seats due to PTI's inability to submit its list of candidates before the deadline. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) upheld the electoral watchdog's decision. The PTI then moved SIC against the decision.

According to a notification, the ECP allocated one reserved seat each to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, the report said.

The reserved seats for women were allocated to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP. PPP's Samita Afzal and MQM-P's Fouzia Hameed in Sindh Assembly, ARY News reported.

Subsequently, the PHC verdict allowed the ruling coalition, including PML-N, PPP, PPP and other allies to gain a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. This decision raised PML-N's seats to 123 and the PPP's to 73, while the SIC held 82 seats.