PHC halt oath of reserved seat candidates for KPK assembly

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has halted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from taking oath on reserved seats, according to media reports.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTIP) filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court regarding reserved seats.

The PTI (P) petition states that our party has 2 members in the KP Assembly, but we were given only one reserved seat for women; we are entitled to more reserved seats.

Justice Arshad Ali noted that the PTI government is in power, but did not secure these seats in this region. The petitioner’s lawyer clarified that PTI did not formally contest the election; rather, independent candidates were fielded.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali said that you people should go to the Election Commission and then come here, to which the petitioner’s lawyer said that once the notification is made, there is no room left.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali asked that if the seats have been allotted, then what should we do about it? The petitioner’s lawyer said that the seats have been allotted but the oath has not been taken from the members yet, the Election Commission has distributed 19 reserved seats, there are 22 reserved seats.

Later, the court issued notices to the Election Commission and the Assembly, preventing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from taking oath on reserved seats.