Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday moved the Supreme Court seeking clarification on the letters written by National Assembly Speaker Ayazz Sadiq and Punjab Assembly’s custodian Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the matter of reserved seats.

The plea, filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan via lawyer Uzair Karamat Bhandari, seeks the top court’s clarification that “the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 had no bearing or effect on the binding nature of the short order dated 12 July 2024 and the implementation thereof cannot be refused on the basis of the said statute.”

The petition comes after NA Speaker Sadiq wrote to the ECP terming the SC ruling, which had declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats, “incapable of implementation” after the amendments to the Election Act 2017 – a similar letter was also written to the ECP by the Punjab Assembly’s speaker as well.

The incumbent ruling coalition, following the ruling, had bulldozed the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 in both house of parliament on August 6 and the legislation came into force with President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent on August 9. In his letter to the electoral body, the speaker underscored 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returned candidate once given for joining a political party shall be irrevocable and cannot be substituted or withdrawn.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 a retrospective effect from 2017 when the Election Act 2017 was passed.

In the petition, the Imran Khan-founded party referred to the clarification order issued by eight SC judges in response to the ECP’s plea seeking guidance regarding the July 12 short order which had termed the returned candidates as belonging to the PTI. Stressing that the SC order cannot be undone via ordinary legislation, the former ruling party’s plea argues: ” [The] NA speaker’s Letter and the PA speaker’s letter do not set out the correct Constitutional and legal position, have no legal effect on the short order dated 12 July, 2024, and are liable to be ignored by the ECP”.

“[The] ECP is bound to implement the short order […] in letter and spirit,” the petition says, while calling for the electoral body to be “restrained from allocating the subject reserved seats to any other party” till the matter is decided.