The Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday restored all reserved seats in the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies in line with Supreme Court’s recent decision.
According to a notification issued by the ECP, the Commission has reintroduced a total of 74 reserved seats:
The move effectively cancels previous messages that had de-notified candidates selected on Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf’s (PTI) ticket. The ECP has drawn its previous messages dated July 24 and July 29, 2024.
The decision complies with the Supreme Court’s decision on June 27, 2025, which dealt with petitions to review the petitions in connection with the allocation of reserved seats.
As a result, the previous cancellation of the PTI candidates’ returns on reserved seats has become void.
SC overturns PTI’s claim of reserved seats
The Supreme Court overturned a 2024 verdict that had enabled PTI to demand reserved seats in national and provincial legislators.
Read: PTI is losing the court match for reserved seats
The order issued by a 10-member constitutional bench allowed several petitions filed by the reigning coalition and rejected his previous decision that had recognized PTI through his alliance with Sunni Itthad Council (SIC), as justified in reserved seats.
With a majority of seven judges, the supreme court gave up in favor of the review, effectively canceling the APEX Court’s July 12, 2024, judgment. This verdict had previously restored PTI’s status as a parliamentary party and ordered the ECP to award reserved seats to women and minorities.
Following the new decision, almost 80 reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies will be redistributed among other parliamentary parties, excluding SIC. The move gives the reigning coalition a two -third majority in parliament.
Justice Salahuddin Panhwar repeated himself from the case, while Justice’s Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi had rejected the reviews at the start of hearings. Justice Jamal Mandokhail partly accepted the petitions and maintained SIC’s claim over 39 seats, but turned the award of 41 others. Another two Justices called for a new review of the ECP for the 80 candidates’ attachments.
The court’s order did not elaborate on how the seats would now be distributed or obtained detailed reasoning, which is expected later.
PTI had previously lost its election symbol due to a dispute over investigations within the party, forcing most of its candidates to compete February’s parliamentary elections as independent. After the polls, they joined SIC in an attempt to regain reserved seats, a step rejected by the ECP and now maintained by the court.
The order effectively blocks PTI’s return to parliament through the reserved quota and raises questions about the stability of his government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
PTI and SIC leaders have promised to challenge the decision on all forums.
