In a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq stated that the Supreme Court’s ruling on reserved seats for independent candidates cannot be implemented due to recent amendments to the Election Act 2017. He emphasized that independent candidates can no longer switch parties after the new law.
ISLAMABAD: A few days after the Supreme Court clarified its ruling on reserved seats, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced that the court’s decision from July 12 can’t be enforced due to changes to the Election Act 2017.
The Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling, considered a victory for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), allowed the party to get reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies. The 13-member bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, issued an 8-5 majority verdict, overturning a previous decision by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that had denied the reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In the February 8 general elections, PTI candidates ran as independents after the ECP stopped the party from using its bat symbol due to issues with its intra-party polls. Some winning candidates, backed by PTI, joined SIC to claim the reserved seats, but ECP denied their request because SIC missed the deadline for submitting its list of candidates.
In his letter to ECP, Ayaz Sadiq pointed out that the Supreme Court ruling allowed independent candidates to switch parties even after joining one, which goes against the amended Election Act 2024.
The amendments, signed into law on August 7 by President Asif Zardari, changed Section 66 and Section 104-A of the Election Act. One key amendment is that candidates must declare their party affiliation before seeking an election symbol. If not, they will be treated as independent candidates. Additionally, once an independent candidate joins a political party, the decision is final and cannot be changed.
The speaker’s letter highlighted that the amended law applies retroactively from 2017 and, therefore, independent candidates who have already joined a party cannot switch under the new rules. He stressed that ECP must follow the amended law, rendering the Supreme Court’s ruling unenforceable.
Legal Opinion
The ECP is seeking legal advice on handling the Supreme Court’s order. The commission met and discussed the issue, especially in light of the amended law and the court’s September 14 clarification, which criticized the ECP for creating confusion about the ruling. The ECP is expected to meet again after consulting legal experts.
