Government Claims Only Eligible Parties Should Receive Reserved Seats, PTI Seeks Involvement in Supreme Court Proceedings
The government has informed the Supreme Court that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is not entitled to reserved seats, as it consists entirely of independent candidates. The government argues that the only permissible solution is to allocate the additional seats to other eligible political parties based on the formula excluding independent candidates who joined the SIC or remained independent.
In response, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has requested to join the case, advocating for the cardinal principles of democracy to be upheld. The PTI believes that granting a disproportionate number of seats to other parties would deny the will of the people and potentially lead to amendments in the constitutional and legal structure through an unrepresentative parliament.
The PTI backed numerous returned candidates in various assemblies and submitted lists for reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies before the general elections. They argue that independent candidates should be counted for reserved seats based on proportional representation.
Overall, the government’s response and the PTI’s involvement in the proceedings highlight the ongoing debate over the allocation of reserved seats in accordance with democratic principles.
