The ratification comes a day after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenged the bill, which has retrospective amendments to the Elections Act 2017, in the Supreme Court.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar filed a constitutional petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, requesting the court to declare the amendment act null and void, citing it as unconstitutional and illegal.
PTI has made the federal government and the Election Commission parties in the case. The party has also requested the court to immediately restrain the Election Commission from allocating reserved seats to other political parties.
PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani had introduced the bill in the NA a week ago, after which it had been rushed through the lower house’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs by 8-4 votes.
Reserved seats cannot be allotted to a party
According to the bill, lawmakers cannot change the party after joining one within three days of winning the election. Furthermore, reserved seats cannot be allotted to a party, that did not win a single seat in the election.
Another amendment says that candidates should be considered independent lawmakers if they have not filed a declaration with the returning officer (RO) about their affiliation with a particular political party before seeking the allotment of a poll symbol.
The legislation followed after the SC allotted reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
A 13-member top court bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa ruled that the PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, setting aside the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision denying the reserved seats to the SIC.