Theft of reserved seats from PTI allocated to other political parties by Supreme Court

[FarhanSiddiqui]

We PTI supporters are being jailed and face repression from the current installed regime but we don’t turn against the state. While the pretender to Iranian throne Prince Reza and his supporters are colluding with the Zionazis who are bombing Iran.

 

[ghazi52]

PTI and reserved seats: Newly minted bench of SC has delivered what it was meant to​

Consolidating power​

Arifa Noor
July 1, 2025

THIS past week, the worst-kept secret in town finally became public when the court, in its infinite wisdom, decided to award the PTI’s reserved seats to the ruling alliance and beyond. In doing so, some have pointed out, the newly minted bench of the Supreme Court has delivered what it was meant to.

Lengthy articles will appear in the coming days, as will long monologues on television, explaining the legal intricacies behind this decision, referencing articles, sections and subsections of the law and the Constitution, which will make no sense to those of us without legal degrees.

However, the rest of us will continue to wonder how the blue-eyed parties can end up with seats for which they have no corresponding strength in parliament in terms of directly elected seats.

After all, the reserved seats are allocated on the basis of the directly elected seats won by a party (which it seems the PTI is not). This was succinctly pointed out by journalist Majid Nizami on X, who wrote that the PML-N has three directly elected seats from KP but the party will get five reserved seats for women from the province; the JUI-F has two MNAs but will get three reserved seats; and the PPP will get two when it has only one directly elected MNA.

Ordinary people will not really be able to figure out this mathematical equation but they are aware of a simpler principle of Pakistan’s history: this decision has followed the time-honoured tradition of our courts, where politics (and power) trumps legalese, rather than the other way around.

Indeed, for months now, the messengers on television screens had been informing less-informed mortals that the PTI was never going to get the reserved seats. And it wasn’t because the PTI would then gain some super powers and be in a position to push back. Nope.

This decision was never about the PTI. It was about giving the ruling alliance a two-thirds majority. Best to avoid the kind of tamasha and to-ing and fro-ing that accompanied the 26th Amendment; so much petrol and air-conditioning is wasted as meetings are held and allies and/ or other parties are cajoled to vote with the government. In this time of austerity, such expenses are best not incurred.

Just when we think there is nothing more to reveal they shed another fig leaf.

And so much money will be saved as more of the planned legislation will now go through at lightning speed. The menu is extensive, we are told. From providing a legal cover to the hybrid system, to sprinkling some executive glitter on someone’s sheer power, to rolling back the 18th Amendment, there is no end to the predictions. The talk is as varied as there are mouths, goes the Urdu saying. It also holds true of what will now pass from parliament in the coming days and months.

 

[ghazi52]

No wonder then that those in power think they can get away with anything. And just when we think there is nothing more to reveal they shed another fig leaf. The obscene salary hikes they awarded themselves in the budget were still being discussed when this judgement was announced.

This happened while terrorist attacks are once again in the news cycle. Half of the country appears to be beyond the writ of the state, and there are deaths from attacks, the effects of climate change and even poverty, but they should keep quiet because there might be another attack by India.

There is little left to say as the powerless brace themselves for what is to come. For come it will; a legacy that the state and society will grapple with for decades.

The 1980s left us with a jihad factory and violence from non-state actors that continue to be a challenge. The noughties left us with a newer breed of jihadis, along with a real estate juggernaut and wounds in Balochistan that are now infected. What next?

Lastly, it is also necessary to remember that once power is consolidated, the slow journey to weakening also begins. Back in 2002, it seemed as if no one could stop the US, as after the quick and successful invasion of Afghanistan it blithely entered Iraq in order to reshape the Middle East.

While the region continues to pay the price of that adventure, the story of the weakening of the world’s superpower can also be traced back to those years.

Closer to home, once the PML-N had staved off the PTI dharna, it seemed as if there would not be a popular challenge to the party in Punjab. Then came Panama.

The PPP’s rule in Sindh seemed unassailable — until recently, when the canals were announced. And similarly placed was Pervez Musharraf in the summer of 2006 when the Supreme Court struck down the Steel Mills privatisation. One never knows what is lurking around the corner.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2025

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Check and Balance system , between Government vs Right of People is broken

The system is broken because the Group which should be protecting Pakistani People rights Supreme court , is now compromised, with assets promoted from Junior Ranks to promote Rigged Government control


Supreme court Panel made up of "Junior" Staff , who are leaning towards political party has diluted the ability to Serve the People of Pakistan

 

[ghazi52]

ECP restores 74 reserved seats across national, provincial assemblies​

Previous cancellation of PTI candidates’ return on reserved seats rendered void

Our Correspondent
July 02, 2025

A security guard standing outside Election Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad on September 21, 2023. Photo: AFP

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) restored on Wednesday all reserved seats in the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies, in line with Supreme Court's recent decision.

According to a notification issued by the ECP, the commission has reinstated a total of 74 reserved seats:

• 19 seats in the National Assembly
• 25 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
• 27 in Punjab Assembly
• 3 in Sindh Assembly

The move effectively nullifies earlier notifications that had de-notified candidates elected on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) ticket. The ECP has withdrawn its earlier notifications dated July 24 and July 29, 2024.

The decision comes in compliance with the Supreme Court's June 27, 2025 ruling, which addressed review petitions related to the allocation of reserved seats.

As a result, the previous cancellation of PTI candidates’ returns on reserved seats has been rendered void.

SC overturns PTI’s claim to reserved seats

The Supreme Court overturned a 2024 judgment that had allowed PTI to claim reserved seats in national and provincial legislatures.

The order issued by a 10-member constitutional bench allowed multiple review petitions filed by the ruling coalition and dismissed its earlier decision that had recognised PTI, through its alliance with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), as eligible for reserved seats.

With a majority of seven judges the top court ruled in favour of the review, effectively annulling the apex court's July 12, 2024, verdict. That judgment had previously restored PTI’s status as a parliamentary party and ordered the ECP to allocate reserved seats for women and minorities.

Following the new decision, nearly 80 reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies will be reallocated among other parliamentary parties, excluding the SIC. The move gives the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Justice Salahuddin Panhwar recused himself from the case, while Justices Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi had dismissed the review petitions at the start of hearings. Justice Jamal Mandokhail partially accepted the petitions, maintaining SIC’s claim over 39 seats but reversing the award of 41 others. Two more justices called for a fresh review by the ECP of the 80 candidates’ affiliations.

The court order did not elaborate on how the seats would now be distributed or provide detailed reasoning, which is expected later.

PTI had earlier lost its election symbol due to a dispute over intra-party polls, forcing most of its candidates to contest February’s general elections as independents. After the polls, they joined SIC in a bid to reclaim reserved seats, a move rejected by the ECP and now upheld by the court.

The ruling effectively blocks PTI’s return to parliament through the reserved quota and raises questions about the stability of its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

PTI and SIC leaders have vowed to challenge the decision at all forums.

 

[pashtunkoum]

Ridiculous. Then they wonder why the "bloody civ-lianz" don't respect us.

 

[SaadH]

View attachment 132294

Editorial: The Constitutional Bench’s most recent decision is an attempt to provide legal closure, but it may just engender another crisis. On Friday, the bench overturned the Supreme Court’s earlier judgement in the reserved seats case, effectively foreclosing the possibility of correcting the imbalance created by the ECP’s controversial decisions during the conduct of the last general election.

Read the full editorial here: https://www.dawn.com/news/1920907

It took the desi landay kay liberals of Dawn three years to wake up to this reality...

 

[airhead]

i see this as a victory for pti as this completely is the final nail in the coffin for pmln and ppp. it is a matter of time that they will lose munirs support and at thst point things are going to get very very ugly for these two parties and some highups in establishment. this is not going to happen tomorrow bit sooner than you think . pti will come as the only credible party left amd. o matter how much try they will not be able to stop ik from becoming yhe most powerful leader for the 20 years. i am mot saying that ik will solve all the problems but there will be a decision on armys role in politics and other affairs

 

[ghazi52]

 

[mythbuster]

Good news ...our constitution is loaded with poetic nonsense .... now , with 2/3 majority all the needed changes will be done.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[Pakistanithinktank]

Our courts have become a joke. But it’s too late now, we will be heading to fresh elections soon… in 2-3 years… and no matter what the court had decided, PTI wasn’t going to get the reserved seats

The public holds no real power in electing their representatives, regardless of how often elections are conducted in Pakistan, the outcome remains firmly in the hands of the Establishment. It’s deeply ironic that despite their sweeping control over all state institutions, they’ve been unable to deliver any meaningful reforms over the past 50 years.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

 

[Mr X]

The public holds no real power in electing their representatives, regardless of how often elections are conducted in Pakistan, the outcome remains firmly in the hands of the Establishment. It’s deeply ironic that despite their sweeping control over all state institutions, they’ve been unable to deliver any meaningful reforms over the past 50 years.

Agreed, our Army has repeatedly demonstrated that they are really bad in managing political and economic affairs. They are good at Defence and that’s it.