Senator Faisal Vawda has said that the Supreme Court’s decision on the reserved seats case will have an adverse affect on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Vawda said the opposition would continue to splinter in the coming days, making it increasingly difficult to manage.
He said the PTI could soon face internal conflicts and the emergence of ‘forward blocs’ since the nomination of reserved seats candidates has to be made by the chairman who is not in the position to do so and hence the party could further fragment.
The larger bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa announced its short order on Friday. The decision was reached with an 8-5 split, with five judges issuing dissenting notes.
However, the majority decision of eight judges, including Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha A. Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed and Irfan Saadat Khan was delivered by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah on the recommendation of the CJP.
The SC majority verdict overturned the Peshawar High Court judgment dated March 25 and also declared the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) order dated March 1 unconstitutional, lacking lawful authority and having no legal effect.
The apex court declared that the denial of an election symbol does not affect the constitutional and legal rights of a political party in any manner to participate in an election and to field candidates whereas the ECP is under a constitutional duty to act, construe and apply all statutory provisions accordingly.
Commenting on the apex court’s decision Senator Vawda noted that the ruling addressed issues that were not even raised in the original plea.
