Daily Times

Days after the Supreme Court issued clarification on the reserved seats verdict, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said that the apex court’s July 12 ruling is now “incapable of implementation” after the amendments to Election Act 2017.

The NA Speaker, in its letter to the electoral watchdog, noted that the Supreme Court had directed the election commission to allow independent returned candidates to join another political party months after already joining a political party as a result of the General Elections 2024. “In effect, the SC judgment has allowed a returned candidate to switch political parties,” it noted.

However, Sadiq noted, after the July 12 ruling, parliament adopted the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 – which had also received President Asif Zardari’s assent on August 7 and published in the Gazette of Pakistan on August 9 as “Amended Election Act”.

He pointed out two “particular provisions” – amendments to Section 66 and Section 104-A, which he said, were relevant for the Election Commission’s consideration.

In its amendment to Section 66 of the Elections Act, the bill says that if a candidate does not submit a declaration of his affiliation with a political party to the returning officer (RO) before seeking allotment of the election symbol, they shall be “deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party”.

Meanwhile, the amendment to Section 104 reads that the declaration, consent or affidavit, by whatever name called, of an independent returned candidate once given for joining a political party shall be irrevocable and cannot be substituted or withdrawn.

Furthermore, the letter pointed out Section 1 (2) of the Amended Election Act, which states that the said amendments will have retrospective effect from 2017 when the Election Act 2017 was passed.

“In view of this backdrop, it is stated that independent returned candidates who have already given a joining to a political party cannot be allowed to now switch parties in terms of the Amended Election Act which has paramount and overriding effect,” Sadiq wrote.

The speaker also stated that no allocation can now be made by the ECP without applying the Amended Election Act to the fullest.

“As the SC judgement was rendered based on the law prior to the enactment of the amendment, the said judgment is now incapable of implementation,” it said, noting that it is the Amended Election Act that shall prevail and supersede the prior ruling.

Earlier in the day, the third session of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ended without any progress on the Supreme Court’s direction to implement its order.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, included members of the commission, the secretary, and the legal team. Sources indicated that the ECP decided to continue its consultations and will reconvene on Friday.

Separately, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan has written to the ECP, urging the implementation of the amended Election Act and the reinforcement of parliamentary supremacy. He warned that undermining parliamentary sovereignty would be detrimental to democracy, reiterating the need for all constitutional institutions to respect and adhere to the laws established by parliament.