Ahead of today’s full court hearing, the government informed the Supreme Court that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is ineligible for reserved seats and requested dismissal of the petition. Meanwhile, PTI seeks to intervene in the proceedings, advocating for upholding democratic principles.
According to the government’s submission on Wednesday, it asserted that the SIC, composed entirely of independent candidates, did not participate in the general election or submit a required candidate list under Section 104 of the Elections Act 2017. It emphasized that the only constitutional solution is to allocate additional seats to eligible political parties based on their general seat performance, excluding independent candidates who joined the SIC or remained independent.
The response highlighted that reserved seats can only be allocated to parties contesting general elections, with at least one returned candidate and a submitted candidate list to the ECP. Failure to meet these criteria would classify candidates under such parties as independents for seat allocation purposes, potentially affecting the distribution of reserved seats among other political parties.
PTI, represented by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, expressed concerns over disproportionately allocating seats to other parties, arguing it undermines democratic representation. PTI asserted its entitlement to reserved seats based on the proportional representation of its candidates in the National and provincial assemblies, as per lists filed before the February 8 general elections.
The application contended that constitutional provisions do not mandate independent candidates to join parties with general seats to qualify for reserved seat consideration, nor does it require submission of reserved seat lists before the general election date under Article 51(6)(d) and (e) of the Constitution or Section 104 of the Elections Act 2017.
