In a highly anticipated decision on Friday, Pakistan’s top court declared that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party is entitled to its share of reserved seats in both the national and provincial assemblies, delivering a significant legal triumph for the incarcerated leader’s supporters.
The 8-5 decision, broadcasted live, overturned an earlier verdict from the Election Commission of Pakistan, which was upheld by a provisional court. This prior decision had stripped Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of nearly 80 reserved seats across the national and provincial legislatures.
This landmark ruling, which allocates more than 20 seats in the National Assembly to PTI, diminishes Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition, preventing it from maintaining a two-thirds majority. Nevertheless, with control over more than 200 seats, the coalition will retain the majority needed to govern in the 336-member body.
PTI leaders celebrated the victory, describing it as a golden day in Pakistan’s history.
“It is a day of joy for supporters both within Pakistan and abroad. We have finally secured what is rightfully ours,” PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan told the media outside the court.
The court’s decisive order, which reshapes the composition of the national and provincial assemblies, comes five months after Pakistan’s general elections on February 8. These elections, in which PTI-backed candidates secured the majority of seats in the National Assembly, were marred by widespread allegations of pre-poll rigging and result manipulation.