By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan ruled on Tuesday in favor of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), allowing it to retain a general assembly seat and secure an additional reserved seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, while turning down a similar request from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P), citing constitutional and legal limits.
The decision stems from a Peshawar High Court order directing the commission to redistribute reserved seats in the provincial assembly. The PML-N had sought a larger share of these seats after gaining an additional general seat when independent candidate Malik Tariq Awan joined the party shortly after the February 2024 elections.
The commission’s ruling rested on the timing of Awan’s move. Declared an independent returned candidate on Feb. 22, 2024, Awan joined the PML-N the next day, Feb. 23, well within the three-day window allowed under the constitution for independents to affiliate with a political party.
The ECP pointed to the proviso of Article 51(6)(e), read with Article 106, which states that the quota for reserved seats is calculated based on the total number of general seats won by a party, including independents who join within three days of the official gazette’s publication.
With this extra seat, the PML-N now matches the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) in seat numbers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and qualifies for at least one additional reserved seat for women or non-Muslims.
The commission pegged its calculations to the party positions as they stood on Feb. 22, the legal deadline for issuing victory notifications following the general elections.
The PTI-P, however, found no such relief. The party won two general seats in the February polls, but one candidate’s victory notification came on Feb. 27, after the initial allocation of reserved seats. The commission refused to recalculate the quota, arguing that doing so would set off an “unending process” of adjustments whenever a party gained seats through recounts, by-elections, or tribunal decisions.
“The rationale for calculation of quota for the reserved seats on the basis of party position on 22-02-2024 was to avoid unending controversies,” the ECP stated in its order. “For example, if a political party succeeds in getting more seats as a result of recounting or by-election or decision of the tribunal, the quota will be revised again and again and it will be an unending process which is against the spirit of Constitution and Law as enshrined in Articles 51(6) & 106 of the Constitution and Section 98 & 104 of the Elections Act, 2017 and Rule 92 of the Election Rules, 2017.”
At the time of the initial calculation, only one PTI-P seat, from PK-73 (Peshawar-III), had been notified. The second, from PK-103, came too late to factor into the reserved-seat math, and the ECP declined to revisit its earlier distribution.
The Awami National Party (ANP) faced a similar rejection. The party secured one general seat in the February elections, notified on Feb. 22, and later picked up another from PK-22 (Bajaur-IV) in a July 11 by-election, with the candidate notified on July 25.
But the commission held firm: reserved-seat quotas hinge on general election results, not subsequent by-elections. “Results of by-elections cannot be included as it is not the spirit of Constitution provided under Article 224(2) of the Constitution read with Section 98 of the Elections Act, 2017,” the ECP noted. “In case this petition is accepted it will be un-ending processes which will result recalculation/fluctuation of seats from time to time after each and every by-election or decision of the tribunal.”
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