Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The third session of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ended without any progress on the Supreme Court’s direction to implement its order.
The meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, included members of the commission, the secretary, and the legal team. Sources indicated that the ECP decided to continue its consultations and will reconvene on Friday.
Earlier, the Supreme Court issued a detailed order on the ECP’s petition, clarifying that those who submitted party certificates were to be recognised as PTI’s successful candidates. The court instructed the ECP to immediately implement its ruling on reserved seats.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court criticised the ECP’s plea for clarity on the reserved seats as a tactic to delay enforcement.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who issued a four-page judgment, emphasised that the ECP must follow the court’s initial decision strictly.
On July 12, a 13-judge Supreme Court bench ruled that PTI was entitled to reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in both national and provincial assemblies.
The court’s 8-5 majority decision declared the ECP’s handling of reserved seats unconstitutional.
In a related matter, earlier, the Peshawar High Court had rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) petition against the ECP’s decision to deprive it of the reserved seats.
The five-member bench, led by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, heard arguments for three hours before reserving and later announcing the verdict.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Barrister Ali Zafar argued that PTI was unfairly deprived of its election symbol just days before the general elections. The Supreme Court had upheld the ECP’s decision to remove the symbol, forcing PTI candidates to run as independents, although they still received significant voter support.
Many successful independents later joined the SIC.
Despite this, the ECP did not allocate the expected 78 seats to the SIC rather it distributed them among other parties.
Additionally, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq sent a letter to the ECP on Thursday, urging the commission to act under the new Election Act 2017 (amended) and to respect parliamentary autonomy when implementing decisions. Sources say that this letter may also add to the delaying tactics the ECP was applying.
