‘Tied-parties have to do a toss to get the minority reserved seat’

PESHAWAR: Two opposition parties of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly are fighting for a reserved seat for minorities in the legislature.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has filed a plea in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) challenging the awarding a reserved (minority) seat in the provincial assembly to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

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It has been petitioned in the high court that both the JUI and the PML-N have seven general seats, each, in the house. “In case of equal number of seats of two parties the minorities special seats given to the party that wins toss”, petitioner said.

“The Election commission of Pakistan (ECP) has allotted the reserved seat to the JUI without conducting toss to decide the matter,” said the Petitioner while requesting the court to declare the ECP’s decision as void. The petition also requests that toss be done for decision over the minorities reserved seat.

Earlier, the PHC had dismissed petition of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over reserved seats in assemblies. A five-member bench of the high court had given unanimous decision on the petition.

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Barrister Ali Zafar pleading the SIC’s case over the reserved seats in assemblies had said that that the election commission kept the party aside and granted reserved seats to remaining political parties. – INP