LAHORE: On Monday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) received directives from Lahore High Court (LHC) to notify members of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of the Punjab Assembly’s five reserved seats. The positions were left vacant after 25 lawmakers of PTI were de-seated due to defection.
Earlier on May 23, 25 dissident lawmakers of PTI were de-seated as they had voted for Hamza Shehbaz for the chief minister position in Punjab. Five seats comprised reserved slots for minorities and women.
On May 28, PTI submitted a petition urging the court to direct ECP to notify new MPAs on the five positions. ECP had a deadline of June 2 to sort out the matter. However, it wanted to hold the notifications by July 17 until the by-elections in Punjab were concluded.
LHC has now ordered ECP to issue the notification on reserved seats and announce that its prior ruling is null & void.