The Supreme Court’s decision to allocate reserved assembly seats for women and minorities to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will have a significant impact on five opposition parties in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, overturning the Election Commission of Pakistan’s March 1 ruling.
These parties, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians, Awami National Party, and PTI-Parliamentarians, had initially received reserved seats through various ECP notifications, which are now invalidated.
The ECP’s order to deny these seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council, which included PTI-backed independent lawmakers, has been overturned by the Supreme Court’s decision.
Initially, the ECP allocated two women’s seats each to JUI-F and PML-N, and one to PPPP in the KP Assembly’s 26 reserved seats for women. Additionally, no non-Muslim seats were allocated initially, but after the March 1 order, JUI-F received two seats and PML-N and PPPP each received one.
Following the Supreme Court’s verdict, PTI is expected to secure all 21 reserved seats for women and three non-Muslim seats in the provincial assembly. The fate of the fourth non-Muslim seat will depend on the ECP’s further calculations.
Similarly, in the National Assembly, out of 10 reserved seats for women from KP, eight notifications have been set aside by the Supreme Court. Previously, one seat each was allocated to JUI-F and PML-N, but after March 1, PML-N received four seats and JUI-F and PPPP each received two. Now, PTI is entitled to all eight reserved seats.
Before the February 2024 elections, PTI submitted priority lists for reserved seats, naming candidates such as Maliha Ali Asghar Khan for NA and Mashal Azam, Uzma Riaz, and Fauzia Bibi for KP Assembly.
Currently, PTI-backed MPAs hold 92 out of 115 general seats in the assembly, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur maintaining his independent status. Other parties holding general seats include JUI-F and PML-N with seven each, PPPP with four, ANP with two, and PTIP with two.
In the National Assembly, PML-N holds three general seats, JUI-F two, and PPPP and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen one each.
Overall, the Supreme Court’s decision reshapes the distribution of reserved seats and strengthens PTI’s position in both provincial and national assemblies.
