Pakistan’s top judge on Monday said he was puzzled why jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf committed political “suicide” when it decided to merge with the Sunni Ittehad Council ahead of the February 8 general elections. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa made the remarks as the Supreme Court resumed hearing on a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), an ally of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, challenging the Peshawar High Court’s verdict denying reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies, Geo News reported.
“Why did the independent candidates leave PTI when it is a political party? Why did you commit suicide by joining another party which goes against your arguments?” the chief justice, who headed a 13-member bench, asked.
He said that had the independent candidates stayed with the PTI, there would have been no problem today. Khan’s party joined hands with the SIC ahead of the February 8 general elections to contest the polls after the Election Commission stripped the PTI of its electoral symbol, a decision upheld by the top court. In a 4-1 verdict in March, the Election Commission ruled that SIC could not claim reserved seats due to significant legal flaws and failure to submit a mandatory party list for such seats. The party had then approached the PHC, which upheld the electoral body’s decision. In April, SIC moved the apex court seeking to set aside the PHC verdict and the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies. On May 6, a three-member SC bench suspended the PHC verdict and referred the matter to the judges’ committee for the formation of a larger bench since the matter required constitutional interpretation. On Saturday, the election commission told the apex court that the SIC does not qualify for reserved seats as the political party doesn’t allow non-Muslims to be a part of it.
The ECP also informed the top court that the reserved seats cannot be allotted to the SIC as the party failed to submit a timely priority list for reserved seats as required by the election programme.
