MORE than two years after MNAs loyal to former prime minister Imran Khan fatefully resigned as MPs following a no-confidence vote in April 2022, the PTI is returning to the National Assembly.
The Election Commission eventually recognized 39 of the party’s 80 returned candidates as “PTI legislators”, implementing one part of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of reserved seats. It may be recalled that these 39 candidates have indicated their party affiliation in one way or another ahead of the February 8 general elections.
Those 41 other candidates who could not do so were given another opportunity by the court to reassert their affiliation through signed and notarized statements submitted to the ECP. However, while most of these 41 candidates have already filed their declarations, their status remains unresolved as the ECP is now “confused” over how their allegiance is to be verified.
Time will tell whether the ECP was hostile to the PTI out of compulsion or for some other reason. Be that as it may, for a moment it seemed obvious that her priorities seemed to be something other than midwifery and facilitating the democratic process.
If the Commission was only working to ensure that all parties with a public mandate get their rightful seat in Parliament, it would not continue to push for the Supreme Court’s unequivocal order on reserved seats. The fact that he continues to find reasons to thwart the smooth implementation of the judgment is worrying, not least because since the judgment was delivered, a number of regime-oriented “analysts” have appeared on TV screens, quite confidently asserting that the reserved seats “will never” be given to PTI. One hopes that this is not some part of a conscious effort to frustrate the Supreme Court.
The remaining legislators who wish to be affiliated with the PTI must be declared the party’s candidates without delay and the process must proceed to allotment of the reserved seats to which he is entitled by virtue of his position in the National Assembly.
As the 11 judges of the Supreme Court pointed out, it was the ECP’s fault that the PTI could not participate in the recent general elections as forcefully as it would have liked. It is therefore her responsibility to right any wrongs he has committed in the process. If some semblance of justice is restored to Parliament, the political system can begin to function as intended.
Faith in Pakistan’s democracy has sunk to a dangerously low level due to the flawed election exercise held on February 8, and the implementation of the Supreme Court order may even help calm the overall situation and bring down political temperatures somewhat.
