In fresh blow, Peshawar court declines reserved parliamentary seats to Imran Khan-backed party

ISLAMABAD: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday ruled that a party aligned with candidates backed by former premier Imran Khan was not eligible for extra reserved seats in the legislature, local media widely reported, another blow to the embattled group’s governing prospects.
The decision represents a further setback for Khan, who is in jail following a string of convictions, despite his candidates winning the most seats overall, 93, in the Feb. 8 national election.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party couldn’t contest the election under its traditional electoral symbol, a cricket bat, which was denied on technical grounds. The PTI subsequently struck an alliance with another party, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), in a bid to secure reserved seats.
On Mar. 4, the Election Commission had ruled that the SIC was not eligible for reserved seats, a decision the alliance had appealed in the Peshawar High Court.
“Petitions are unanimously rejected,” the court said on Thursday. 
The Election Commission and Peshawar court decisions will bolster the parliamentary strength of the fragile coalition that has taken oath office, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with support from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Under Pakistan’s election rules, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats — 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims — in proportion to the number of seats they win. This completes the National Assembly’s total strength of 336 seats.
Khan-backed candidates had to run as independents after the election commission stripped his party its famous cricket bat symbol on ballot papers on grounds that it failed to conduct an intra-party election, a prerequisite for any party to take part in polls.