The Lahore High Court has sought a response from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following the filing of pleas which challenged the electoral commission’s decision to postpone the issuance of a notification regarding new lawmakers on the Punjab Assembly’s reserved seats till elections are held on 20 vacant seats.
LHC Judge Justice Shujaat Ali Khan sought a reply from the commission during the hearing of separate petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Samuel Yaqoob and others.
Last week, the ECP had ruled that the allocation of reserved seats would be notified following the by-election on 20 Punjab Assembly seats that were vacant.
A total of 25 seats in the Punjab Assembly are vacant after ECP de-notified dissident MPAs who had given their vote to Hamza Shehbaz against their party line in the election for the province’s chief minister.
On Friday, the PTI had moved the LHC to challenge the ECP’s decision regarding notifying of new MPAs on the five reserved seats in the provincial legislature.
The petition had invoked Section 6 of Article 224 of the constitution, and said that the electoral watchdog was bound to issue a notification.
Earlier, the ECP had stated that it would notify the allocation of reserved seats following June 17’s by-election and the formation of a new party position.
