ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday allocated an additional reserved seat to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.
The decision came after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered a reassessment of the reserved seat distribution.
According to the ECP’s revised allocation, both PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have been awarded nine reserved seats each, while the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secured five seats. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and the Awami National Party (ANP) each received one reserved seat.
The ECP also ruled that the allocation of the minority seat will be determined through a toss between PML-N and JUI-F. The Election Commission rejected the objections raised by JUI-F concerning the reserved seats and clarified that the number of reserved seats will remain unchanged, even in the event of by-elections.
The PHC had previously declared the earlier reserved seat allocation as null and void, following a petition by PML-N that claimed the distribution was inequitable.
The court had directed the ECP to consult political parties and candidates to determine a fairer allocation within 10 days.
PML-N had challenged the ECP’s decision, arguing that despite securing the same number of general seats as JUI-F, it was allocated fewer reserved seats. The party had initially won six general seats, with one independent candidate joining later, bringing the total to seven.
The ECP had allocated reserved seats based on six general seats, which PML-N argued was unfair.
