The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to implement the Supreme Court’s order allocating seats to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, media reports said on Saturday.
With this latest development, the PTI party is poised to become the largest party in Pakistan’s parliament.
Recently, a 13-member full bench of the Supreme Court, in a landmark 8-5 decision, ruled that Khan’s PTI party was entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in national and provincial assemblies.
In parliament, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party won 23 seats reserved for women and minorities, increasing its number of seats from 86 to 109 and making it the largest party.
The Election Commission in a statement on Friday said the decision to implement the Supreme Court order was accepted after the Election Commission held two meetings on Thursday and Friday to consider the verdict in the reserved seats case, Geo News reported.
The ECP strongly condemned and rejected unnecessary criticism of the mayoral elections.
“The commission will not succumb to any pressure and will continue to work in accordance with the constitution and the law,” the ECP statement said.
The PTI party and its founder Khan (71) have repeatedly demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and other ECP members.
On July 12, the PTI renewed its demands after the Supreme Court ruled that the party was entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities.
