ISLAMABAD: All eyes are on Pakistan’s top court today, Friday, set to deliver a verdict on a set of petitions challenging the denial of reserved seats in parliament to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party, which is backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict in the case, which could see 70 seats for women and minorities that were allotted to the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after Feb. 8 general elections go to the Khan-backed alliance.
A simple majority in Pakistan’s parliament is 169 out a total 336 seats. Candidates backed by Khan had won the most seats, 93, in the polls but did not have the numbers to form a government.
“A 13-member bench [of the Supreme Court] will announce the decision at noon [12pm] Friday,” the PTI said in a text message sent to reporters with a copy of the cause list issued by the top court on Thursday.
All candidates from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were forced to contest the February polls as independents after the party lost its election symbol on technical grounds. After the election, these candidates joined the Sunni Ittehad Council party to claim a share of 70 reserved seats for women and minorities allotted in proportion to the parliamentary seats a party wins in elections.
The Election Commission (ECP) however ruled that the SIC was not eligible for the reserved seats and a Peshawar court upheld the decision, dealing a blow to the embattled PTI’s governing prospects and proving to be a major setback for Khan, who has been in jail since last August. The Supreme Court subsequently overruled these verdicts and has since last month been hearing petitions filed by SIC to restore the seats to the opposition alliance.
PM Sharif formed a weak coalition with other parties after the general elections produced a hung parliament. Sharif’s PML-N party’s 79 and the PPP’s 54 seats together made a simple majority in parliament to form a government at the center and they also roped in smaller parties in the coalition.
Khan and his party have rejected the results of the elections, alleging widespread rigging, which the ECP denies.
In Pakistan, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats — 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims — in proportion to the number of seats won in general elections. This completes the National Assembly’s total 336 seats. Independents are not eligible for reserved seats.
Without the reserved seats, Sharif’s ruling coalition will lose its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, without which the government cannot push through constitutional amendments.
All eyes on Pakistan Supreme Court, set to rule on parliamentary reserved seats case
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All eyes on Pakistan Supreme Court, set to rule on parliamentary reserved seats case
- Under election rules, parties are allotted reserved seats in proportion to number of parliamentary seats they win in polls
- Khan’s party hopes to win back 70 seats that were allotted to other parties which are now part of the PM Sharif-led ruling coalition
Pakistan top military commander urges ‘multi-domain preparedness’ amid evolving security threats
- Asim Munir says Pakistan faces layered challenges spanning conventional, cyber, economic and information domains
- His comments come against the backdrop of tensions with India, ongoing militant violence in western border regions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top military commander Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday stressed the need for “multi-domain preparedness” to counter a broad spectrum of security challenges facing the country, saying they ranged from conventional military threats to cyber, economic and information warfare.
Pakistan’s security environment has remained volatile following a brief but intense conflict with India earlier this year, when the two nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged missile and artillery fire while deploying drones and fighter jets over four days before a ceasefire was brokered by the United States.
Pakistan has also been battling militant violence in its western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan and receive backing from India. Both Kabul and New Delhi have rejected claims.
The military has also warned that disinformation constitutes a new form of security threat, prompting tighter regulations that critics say risk suppressing dissent. Munir also pointed to a “complex and evolving” global, regional and internal security landscape while addressing participants in the National Security and War Course at the National Defense University (NDU).
“These challenges span conventional, sub-conventional, intelligence, cyber, information, military, economic and other domains, requiring comprehensive multi-domain preparedness, continuous adaptation and synergy among all elements of national power,” he said, according to a military statement.
“Hostile elements increasingly employ indirect and ambiguous approaches, including the use of proxies to exploit internal fault lines, rather than overt confrontation,” he continued, adding that future leaders must be trained and remain alert to recognize, anticipate and counter these multi-layered challenges.
Munir also lauded the NDU for producing strategic thinkers who he said were capable of translating rigorous training and academic insight into effective policy formulation and operational outcomes.
