Reserved seats allocation case: In every period parties have been victimised: Justice Minallah

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah said in every period the political parties have been victimised either by depriving them of their names or taking away election symbols.

He said people are aware of why the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) came into existence. At times, it was Pakistan Peoples Party and then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and now Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made to suffer. He said the Court has to see how constitutional and fundamental rights should be interpreted.

A Full Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on Monday, heard the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, and Speaker KP Provincial Assembly’s petitions for not allocating women and minorities reserved seats to it in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

SIC in assemblies: Reserved seats reallocation issue still remains unresolved

Faisal Siddiqui, representing the SIC, told the bench that their reserved seats for women and minorities have been allocated to other political parties. There are a total of 77 disputed seats in the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies – 23 in NA, 11 in KP, 24 in the Punjab, and three in Sindh.

The counsel said first, the ECP took away the election symbol “bat” from PTI and asked us to bat. Justice Munib said even without a “bat” there is a win-win situation for it.

Justice Athar Minallah questioned whether the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on February 22, 24 notified and acknowledged SIC as the political/ parliamentary party. Can the Court or the ECP allow the voters to suffer if a political party made a mistake? Since they (independents) have contested elections as the political party then the people should not be disenfranchised, he said adding the ECP should have corrected the irregularities so that people “should not have suffered”.

Justice Mansoor observed when the ECP has recognised SIC as a parliamentary party and the PTI independent candidates were made to join the SIC as after the issuance of notification of election results they have to join any party within three days. Later on, when it was found that the SIC did not contest elections and has no member in the Parliament then the three-day time limit should have been extended.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel questioned why the independents did not join PTI instead of SIC, as it also did not contest elections and had no member in the Parliament and the provincial assemblies like the SIC? He; however, observed that in the 2024 general elections, the people did not vote for any individual, but a political party, they voted to PTI. They were not independents as mentioned in Article 51 of the Constitution.

The judge inquired whether the ECP can declare some nominated by the party and who also wishes to contest as that party’s candidate as an independent. And secondly, does that candidate have the right that once the nomination papers are submitted, they quit that party.

The chief justice inquired from Faisal Siddiqui, why he had not made the PPPP, the PML-N, the JUI-P, and the MQM-P as the respondents when they are the affected parties. The SIC’s counsel responded that they were not parties before the Peshawar High Court. He; however, stated that he would file an application to make them respondents.

Justice Aminuddin Khan questioned whether the SIC participated in the general elections.

Faisal replied, no. He said as the PTI’s office is sealed; therefore, cannot provide the record regarding the PTI leaders joining the SIC.

Justice Jamal inquired whether a political party (PTI) maintained its status after losing its symbol. He also asked whether the PTI lost other rights accorded to it under the election laws, or if it could still issue a certificate to candidates.

Justice Athar questioned whether the PTI is an enlisted party in the Election Commission. Justice Munib said Pakistan’s democracy is based on the proportional representation system and a political party gets reserved seats in the National and the Provincial Assemblies according to their strength.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024