ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly regained its full strength on Wednesday following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) distribution of reserved seats among parliamentary parties, in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) last week.
In a 7-3 decision, the CB overturned the Supreme Court’s July 12, 2024 judgment, which had previously allocated reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The ruling redirected these seats to rival parties, effectively removing PTI from the parliamentary party list.
The ECP allocated 19 reserved seats in the National Assembly based on the court’s decision. Thirteen of these seats went to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), four to the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), and two to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).
With this distribution, the ruling coalition, consisting of PML-N, PPPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and other smaller parties, secured a majority, surpassing the two-thirds threshold of 224 seats in the 336-member National Assembly.
Following the CB ruling, the ECP issued orders on Wednesday retracting its earlier notifications that had listed independent candidates as PTI members. It also released the names of candidates assigned to various reserved seats, effectively adjusting the parliamentary composition.
Data from the National Assembly Secretariat showed that the treasury benches now hold 235 seats, while the opposition has 98, in a house of 333 members, with one member suspended and two reserved seats remaining vacant.
Reserved seats were also distributed in provincial assemblies. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the JUI-F received 10 seats, PML-N got seven, and PPPP received six. In Punjab, PML-N was allotted 23 seats, with smaller shares for PPPP, PML-Q, and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). Sindh saw allocations for PPPP and MQM-P.
