The Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) restored all the seats reserved for the National Assembly on Wednesday and four provincial assemblies, in accordance with the recent decision of the Supreme Court.
According to a notification issued by the ECP, the Commission has restored a total of 74 reserved seats:
This decision effectively cancels the previous notifications which had candidates denostified elected on the post of Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI). The ECP removed its previous notifications dated July 24 and July 29, 2024.
This decision complies with the decision of the Supreme Court of June 27, 2025, which addressed examination petitions linked to the allocation of reserved seats.
Consequently, the previous cancellation of the yields of PTI candidates on the reserved seats was made empty.
SC reverses PTI’s claim to reserved seats
The Supreme Court canceled a 2024 judgment which had enabled PTI to claim seats reserved for national and provincial legislatures.
Read: PTI loses a legal battle for reserved seats
The order made by a constitutional bench of 10 members granted several examination petitions deposited by the power coalition and rejected its previous decision which had recognized the PTI, through its alliance with the Sunni Council Ittehad (SIC), as eligible for the reserved seats.
With a majority of seven judges, the high -level court ruled in favor of the revision, effectively canceling the verdict of July 12, 2024 of the Court of Apex. This judgment had previously restored the status of PTI as a parliamentary party ordered to the ECP to allocate seats reserved for women and minorities.
Following the new decision, nearly 80 seats reserved in national and provincial assemblies will be reassigned among other parliamentary parties, excluding the SIC. This decision gives the coalition to power a majority of two thirds in Parliament.
Judge Salahuddin Panhwar challenged the case, while judges Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi had rejected the examination petitions at the start of the hearings. Justice Jamal Mandokhail partially accepted petitions, retaining the SIC request on 39 seats, but reversing the allocation of 41 others. Two other judges called for a new review by the ECP of the 80 affiliations of the candidates.
The court order did not explain how the seats would now be distributed or provide detailed reasoning, which is expected later.
PTI had previously lost its electoral symbol due to a dispute on intra-party polls, forcing most of its candidates to contest the general elections of February as independent. After the polls, they joined the SIC in order to recover reserved seats, a decision rejected by the ECP and now confirmed by the court.
The decision effectively blocks the return of PTI to Parliament through the reserved quota and raises questions about the stability of his government to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The leaders of the PTI and the SIC promised to challenge the decision of all the forums.
