Imran Khan’s PTI scores major win in Pakistan battle for reserved seats

Former PM’s party to get key parliament seats, denying the ruling coalition a two-thirds majority.

Islamabad, Pakistan – The Supreme Court has handed a major legal victory to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, declaring it eligible for a share of reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies.

The judgement, announced on Friday by a 13-member bench in an 8-5 ruling, dealt a significant setback to the coalition government.

The case was filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a political party that PTI-backed candidates had joined after the February 8 general election, which they were compelled to contest as independents.

The PTI, led by Khan, who has been in jail since August due to criminal cases filed against him, was denied the right by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to contest the elections under its electoral symbol, a cricket bat, due to electoral law violations.

Consequently, PTI candidates had to run as independents, yet they surprised observers by winning 93 seats in the National Assembly – more than any other party. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) came second with 75 seats, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was third with 54 seats.

After Khan’s refusal to join hands with any of his rivals, the PMLN and PPP agreed to form a coalition government with other smaller parties.

Under Pakistani law, 266 National Assembly seats are chosen in the general election, and 70 additional reserved seats (60 for women and 10 for minorities) are distributed to political parties based on their election performance. A total of 169 seats is required for a simple majority to form a government with a two-thirds majority of 224 votes necessary to pass