KP govt to give reserved seats to families of May 9 martyrs
Pakistan
The decision is said to have been taken by PTI founder Imran Khan
Apex court said PTI remained intact as party despite being denied symbol
PESHAWAR (Dunya News) – In a bid to solidify its stance on May 9, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday decided to allot the reserved seats to the families of the martyrs of that particular day.
According to sources, seats reserved for women will be given to the widows of the martyrs of May 9. The widows of Javed Akakhel, Sikandar, Muhammad Bilal, Abrar Ahmad and Javed Gill will be granted reserved seats.
Sources said the decision was taken on the instructions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
It must be remembered that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had tipped the scales in PTI’s favour by granting reserved seats to the PTI by a 8-5 verdict earlier this month.
SC TIPS THE SCALES IN PTI'S FAVOUR
Going against the grain of its previous decisions regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the run-up to Feb 8 election, the apex court overturned the Peshawar High Court's verdict of depriving the PTI of the reserved seats of non-Muslim and women candidates in assemblies.
The apex court, in its majority 8-5 decision, announced that the conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding reserved seats was 'unconstitutional', adding that the PTI would remain intact as a political party even without being assigned an election symbol. The verdict was authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Irfan Saadat, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Ali Mazhar decided in favour of the PTI to be allotted reserved seats while Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and Justices Jamal Mandokhail, Naeem Afghan and Aminuddin Khan favoured against the PTI.
Justice Yahya Afridi came up with a dissenting note.
The SC accepted the PTI as a political party and rejected the SIC's appeals. The verdict said the PTI could give list of the candidates of the reserved seats and those 41 candidates could present their certificates to prove that they were members of the party.
