ISLAMABAD (PEN) : Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa questioned why Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made what he described as a political misstep by merging with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) before the February 8 elections. The remarks were made during a hearing of a petition filed by the SIC, PTI’s ally, challenging the Peshawar High Court’s decision to deny reserved seats for women and minorities in national and provincial assemblies.
CJP Isa, heading a 13-member bench, including several justices, raised concerns about independent candidates leaving PTI and merging with another party, contrary to their original stance. He suggested that had these candidates remained with PTI, the current issues might have been avoided.
The PTI had allied with the SIC after losing its electoral symbol due to a decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite this alliance, the ECP did not allocate reserved seats to the SIC, citing procedural failures.
In response, SIC challenged the PHC’s verdict, seeking the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities. The Supreme Court, initially handling the case with a three-member bench, referred it to a larger bench for constitutional interpretation.
Recently, the ECP informed the Supreme Court that SIC was ineligible for reserved seats due to its exclusion of non-Muslims and failure to submit candidate lists on time. SIC has countered with additional documents, including ECP notifications of success for two of its National Assembly lawmakers-elect, urging the court to consider these records.
The case underscores ongoing legal challenges surrounding electoral procedures and alliance strategies in Pakistani politics.
