Ruling alliance secures two-thirds majority in NA after ECP notifies reserved seats

• ECP reinstates overall 74 seats, withholds one.
• 19 reserved seats belong to National Assembly.
• SC ruled PTI not entitled to reserved seats.
  

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued a notification regarding the reserved seats following the June 27 verdict given by the Supreme Court's Constitutional Bench.

The top court's Constitutional Bench accepted review petitions and ruled that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is not entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies — providing a lion's share of the reserved seats to the ruling coalition.

Following the notification, five reserved seats for women in the National Assembly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were restored by the top electoral body.

Two seats each were allotted to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and one to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

Eleven reserved seats for women in the National Assembly from Punjab were also restored. 10 seats have been allotted to the ruling PML-N and one to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The commission restored three seats reserved for minorities in the lower house which were handed over to the PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F.

KP Assembly

As per the notification, 21 reserved seats for women were reinstated in the KP Assembly of which 8 were allocated to JUI-F, six to PML-N, and 5 to PPP. One seat each was also allotted to the PTI Parliamentarians and the Awami National Party (ANP).

Meanwhile, four reserved seats for minorities in the KP Assembly were restored of which two were handed over to the JUI-F, one each to the PML-N and PPP.

Punjab Assembly

The ECP restored 24 reserved seats for women in the Punjab Assembly of which the PML-N got 21 one each by PPP, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Three minority seats were restored and two of them were allotted to the PML-N and one to the PPP.

Sindh Assembly

Two reserved seats for women and one for minorities have been reinstated in the Sindh Assembly of which one was allotted to the PPP and another to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

Furthermore, the ECP also withdrew its notification stating the successful candidates' affiliation with the Imran Khan-founded party from the general seats in the national and provincial assemblies.

Ruling alliance secures two-thirds majority

The ruling alliance in the National Assembly has secured a two-thirds majority, with its strength rising from 218 to 235 members.

The updated count includes the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities.

The PML-N’s seats in the NA have gone up from 110 to 123. The party holds 86 general seats, while the number of its women’s reserved seats has increased from 20 to 32 after the allotment of 12 more seats.

The party now also holds five minority seats, up from four.

The PPP’s total strength in the National Assembly has increased from 70 to 74. The party now has 55 general seats, 16 women’s reserved seats (after three more were added), and three minority seats (after an additional one was allotted).

The MQM-P now holds 22 seats — comprising 17 general, four women’s, and one minority seat. PML-Q has five seats in total, with four general and one minority seat. Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party has four seats — three general and one for women.

PML-Z, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and National Party each hold one general seat, while four independents sit on the treasury benches.

The opposition’s total has risen slightly from 96 to 98 members. The Sunni Ittehad Council — backed by PTI — retains 80 general seats. The opposition includes five independents, while JUI-F now holds 10 seats, up from eight. The party has six general seats, three women’s seats (after one more was added), and one minority seat.

Additionally, the opposition benches include one seat each held by BNP, Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen, and PkMAP.

In total, 19 seats — including three for minorities — have been restored in the Assembly. Of these, PML-N received 12 for women and one for minorities, PPP got three women’s and one minority seat, and JUI-F received one seat each for women and minorities.

However, in line with the Supreme Court’s decision and JUI-F’s objection, the seat of Sadaf Ehsan has not been restored. Similarly, PML-N’s Sobia Shahid and Shehla Bano were not reinstated as they had already taken oath as KP Assembly members.