PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has finalised its list of candidates for reserved seats in both the National and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assemblies.
The list, approved by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, was submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday.
For the KP Assembly, the candidates include Mishal Yousafzai, Fauzia Bibi, Ayesha Naseem, Uzma Riaz, Sajida Hanif, Gul Nasreen Ali, Fareeda Qureshi, Farzana Javed, Shakeela Rabbani, Faiza Mubashir, Humeira Nawaz, Saima Khalid, Khushboo, Farzana Safeer, Harma Ibrahim, Naseem Naz, Asmat Ara Kakakhel, Mehrab, Nayab Khushal, Chand Bibi, Naureen Arif, Razia Nosheen Abbasi, Zahida Javed, and Alia Nawab.
For the National Assembly, the reserved seats will be occupied by Maliha Ali, Samira Shams, Nadia Ambreen, Momina Basit, Naina Arshad, Saba Bibi, Sajida Zulfiqar, and Naila Marwat. Minority seats in the National Assembly will be held by Lal Chand, Rajesh Kumar, Waqas Khokhar, Huqooq Rafiq, and Chaudhry Amir.
In the KP Assembly, the minority seats will be filled by Wazirzada, Irfan Joseph, Rajesh Kumar, Ravi Kumar, and Peter Neroz.
The PTI’s move follows a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed its eligibility for the reserved seats, overturning an earlier decision by the Peshawar High Court. The 13-member bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled by an 8-5 majority that the ECP’s decision to deny the seats to the PTI was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court’s decision affirms PTI’s status as a political party, enabling it to nominate candidates for the reserved seats despite previous issues with its election symbol.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who authored the majority opinion, was joined by Justices Athar Minallah, Muneeb Akhtar, Ayesha Malik, Irfan Saadat, Shahid Waheed, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Ali Mazhar in granting reserved seats to PTI. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan dissented.
It may be noted here that the KP government has allocated reserved seats to the families of the martyrs of May 9, including the widows of Javed Akakhel, Sikandar, Muhammad Bilal, Abrar Ahmad, and Javed Gill, as directed by PTI founder Imran Khan.
