LHC seeks ECP reply to its ruling on PA reserved seats

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has sought a response from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after pleas were filed challenging the body’s ruling on deferring the issuance of a notification of new MPAs on the Punjab Assembly's five reserved seats till the election on 20 vacant seats.

LHC Judge Shujaat Ali Khan sought a reply from the the ECP while hearing separate petitions filed by PTI’s Samuel Yaqoob and others. Last week, the ECP had ruled that the allocation of reserved seats — three women and two minorities — would be notified after the conclusion of by-election for 20 vacant Punjab Assembly seats. By-elections will be held for the seats that became vacant when the ECP de-notified 25 PTI dissident MPAs (20 general candidates, 3 women, and 2 minority members) who had voted for Hamza Shehbaz, against their party line in last month's election for Punjab chief minister.