By: Asif Awan
Abbottabad
After the Abbottabad general elections on February 8, 2024, the case of the members of the assembly سminated on reserved seats for women from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa went into cold storage. Which has also caused vacant Senate seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After the PTI candidates contested the elections as independents and later became members of the Sunni Alliance, the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a notification on March 4 for reserved seats for women under the Election Act 2017, according to which Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Muslim League-N, Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentarians got 26 seats. Against this decision, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a writ in the Peshawar High Court, where the High Court upheld the decision of the Election Commission after hearing. After the High Court, the PTI challenged this decision in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, on which a 13-member bench of 8 judges led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah ruled in favor of the PTI on July 12, 2024, while Five judges, including Justice Faez Isa, had objected to this decision. The parties that got reserved seats against the Supreme Court’s decision, the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the People’s Party (PPP), and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had filed a review appeal in the Supreme Court. The review appeal was postponed on the grounds of the Supreme Court’s vacation. While the Parliament had also insisted on the decision according to the rules of the Constitution through the Amendment Act, this decision is still pending in the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court. On the other hand, there is deep concern among the public over the fact that 20 out of 26 seats are vacant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and there is no decision on them. In this regard, in addition to the public deprivation in the annual development budget, elections for 11 Senate seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are also postponed. It should be noted that in the general 115 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam won 7, Pakistan People’s Party won 4, PML-N won 6, Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians won 1, and 91 independent candidates were successful. In which a stay order has been issued on the seats of PK 29 Shangla II, PK 41 Torghar, PK 44 Abbottabad III and PK 103 North Waziristan. While nominations have not been made on PK 22 Bajaur and PK 91 Kohat II.
