The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday decided to implement the Supreme Court’s order in the reserved seats case.
On July 12, a 13-judge full bench of the top court overturned the ECP and Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to deprive SIC – the home of PTI-backed independents – of reserved seats and handing it over to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led ruling coalition.
The 8-5 majority short verdict ruled that the PTI was eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
The decision was widely criticised by the government as it not only deprived the ruling alliance of its two-thirds majority, but also made PTI the single largest party in both houses.
On Thursday, the electoral watchdog held a crucial meeting to discuss the verdict but failed to reach a consensus as the meeting was postponed till Friday (today).
However, an ECP press release issued today said the election commission had decided to implement the decision of the Supreme Court.
“The instructions have been issued to the legal team of the election commission that if there is any obstacle in the implementation of the decision of the Supreme Court, then they should immediately identify it so that the Supreme Court can be referred for further guidance,” the statement said.
The ECP “condemned and rejected” PTI’s demand for ECP members’ resignation.
“The demand for resignation from the commission is ridiculous. The commission will continue to work in accordance with the constitution and law without considering any kind of pressure,” the press release said.
The ECP further said that it “did not misinterpret” any decision, referring to the minority judgement’s observation that the commission had misinterpreted the court’s January 13 ruling stripping the PTI of its election symbol of the ‘bat’ and mentioned the party’s candidates as independents.
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