Pakistan poll panel delivers big blow to Imran Khan-backed candidates

Pakistan poll panel delivers big blow to Imran Khan-backed candidates

Pakistan’s election commission has declared that a party aligned with candidates supported by former Prime Minister Imran Khan is not eligible for extra reserved seats in the legislature, dealing a blow to their chances of governing.

This decision is another setback for Khan, who is currently in jail due to multiple convictions, despite his candidates winning the most seats in the national election held on February 8.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was unable to contest the election under its traditional symbol, a cricket bat, due to technical reasons. As a result, PTI formed an alliance with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to secure reserved seats.

However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that the SIC is not entitled to claim these reserved seats for women and non-Muslims.

The ECP has instead decided to distribute the reserved seats among other parties. This will strengthen the parliamentary support for the fragile coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with support from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

In response to the ruling, one of Khan’s lawyers, senator and barrister Ali Zafar, stated that they would challenge the ECP’s decision in the superior court, as they believe it is undemocratic. Under Pakistan’s election rules, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats – 60 for women and 10 for non-Muslims – based on the number of seats they win.

This completes the National Assembly’s total strength of 336 seats. Khan-backed candidates ran as independents after the election commission removed the cricket bat symbol from the ballot papers, citing the party’s failure to conduct an intra-party election, which is a prerequisite for participating in polls.

After the election, they formed an alliance with the SIC and argued unsuccessfully for a share of 23 reserved seats, according to Zafar.

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