Following the Supreme Court’s order, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday suspended the lawmakers elected on 77 reserved seats that were denied to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In a notification issued today, the electoral watchdog said the move was in light of the apex court’s order issued last week.
“In pursuant to the order dated May 6, 2024, passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan […] “ the notifications of the following returned candidates against mentioned categories of reserved seats are hereby suspended till further orders,” the ECP said in its notification.
In its verdict on May 6, the Supreme Court overturned the rulings of both the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the ECP regarding the allocation of additional reserved seats to other parties.
Of 77 suspended lawmakers, 66 were elected on seats allocated for women and 11 for minorities.
At least 19 of the female lawmakers and three minority representatives belonged to the National Assembly.
In provincial assemblies, 24 female lawmakers from the Punjab Assembly, 21 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and two from the Sindh Assembly have been suspended.
Similarly, the membership of four minority MPAs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three from Punjab, and one from Sindh was also suspended.
These seats had been previously allocated among various political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and others.
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