he Supreme Court majority verdict declaring Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf eligible for a place in the elected assemblies and receiving the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in its own name, came as a surprise for many, not least, the Sunni Ittehad Council, the PTI’s close ally

Suddenly, the SIC was no longer a large and influential party. Ironically, it was the SIC itself that took the matter to the Supreme Court. It was asking for what it called its deserved share of the reserved seats. At one stage, it was quite confident of a favourable decision. It already enjoyed the privilege of being the largest opposition group after the returned candidates elected with the PTI support joined it. None among the SIC leaders may have imagined in their wildest dreams that the move would end up resurrecting the PTI and render the SIC’s status trivial.

Soon after the verdict, Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan told a press conference that the SIC had ceased to exist in the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. He said the house needed to elect a new leader of the opposition. The PTI-backed ‘independent’ Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, who has previously been elected as leader of the opposition on an SIC seat, he said, had also lost his status. The speaker pointed out that a number of opposition members on SIC seats had submitted affidavits declaring their affiliation with the PTI instead of the SIC.

The ruling PML-N also acted swiftly to block the PTI’s march into the parliament. It not only filed a review petition before the Supreme Court, seeking a complete constitutional explanation of the verdict, but also moved a bill in the National Assembly, quickly approved by the cabinet, to change the rules. It is now pending for a vote in the house. The legislation seeks to strengthen the existing provision in the Election Commission rules that require independent candidates to declare their affiliation with a political party within three days. It remains to be seen whether the legislation can be enforced retrospectively.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the media that the Supreme Court had the authority to interpret the law. However, he said, in this verdict the bench had gone way beyond interpretation. “It seems as if Articles 51 and 106 [of the constitution] have been rewritten. New things have been added that are difficult for me to digest, as a student of the constitution,” Tarar said.

SIC leaders say they are still hopeful of a ‘bright’ parliamentary future. They are hesitant to admit that not all their workers are quite so sure. A coalition of 10 Islamist political groups affiliated with the Barelvi school of thought, led by Sahabzada Hamid Raza known for his staunch opposition of the PML-N, the SIC hit the jackpot in the wake of February 2024 elections when it joined hands with the ousted prime minister Imran Khan.

Hamid Raza was among the PTI-backed candidates who won the February 2024 election as independents after the Election Commission had stripped the party of its electoral symbol, the cricket bat. Consequently, the PTI-backed candidates who had contested under a variety of symbols, joined the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.

A senior parliamentarian told The News on Sunday that the Supreme Court had given more to the PTI than sought by its ally, the SIC, possibly in view of the concept of “complete justice” mentioned by some senior judges during the course of the case proceedings. Requesting not to be named, the parliamentarian said that in their observations the judges had also mentioned the misinterpretation of the constitution by the ECP in not allowing the PTI to contest the February elections and denying it its share of the reserved seats.

Mufti Abdul Karim, a spokesman for the SIC, told TNS that the Supreme Court verdict would not cast any deep or long lasting impact on their political future. “The SIC has supported the PTI in difficult times. The SIC has never tried to take undue advantage of the PTI’s support for its candidates.” He said that they had always been aware that the seats that had been “snatched from the PTI, rightfully belonged to it.”

He brushed aside concerns among party workers about the SIC taking a political back seat in the parliament in the wake of the restoration of PTI’s parliamentary status. Karim said that the SIC would continue its coalition with the PTI, both in the parliament and outside it, to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions.

Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, another political ally of the PTI, mainly relevant in the Gilgit-Baltistan, had also agreed to an arrangement with the PTI that benefitted the MWM candidates. MWM chief, Allama Nasir Abbas Jafri, also became senator with the support of the PTI-backed MPAs.

A spokesman for the MWM told The News on Sunday that the party would not be affected by the situation arising after the Supreme Court verdict. He said the party had a five-point agreement with the PTI. It focused on internal autonomy, independent foreign policy, making the economy independent of the IMF, not allowing the country’s soil to be used by foreign powers and having good relations with all Muslim countries. The MWM spokesman said his party wished the PTI more political success in the days ahead.

The Supreme Court verdict has been a major setback to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition, that had set its eyes on acquiring two-thirds majority in the parliament that would enable it to amend the constitution.

The verdict was announced by a 13-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa. All 13 judges declared the PTI a parliamentary party. In their observations during the proceedings, some of the learned judges had said that the apex court should dispense ‘complete justice’ to rectify the wrongdoings. The majority judgement said that 39 out of the 80 MNAs, shown by the ECP as PTI candidates, clearly belonged to the party. The rest would have to file signed and notarised statements with the commission in 15 days saying which party they belonged to.

The ECP has notified the 39 MNAs as PTI lawmakers. For the remaining 41, it has sought guidance from the Supreme Court on the verification of their affiliation in the absence of a recognised organisational structure.

The PTI has submitted the list of its candidates for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly and the three Provincial Assemblies to the ECP. Surprisingly, the list has been withheld from the media. The ECP has notified 93 members of three Provincial Assemblies as lawmakers belonging to the PTI. However, it has not de-notified those who were allocated the reserved seats to be allotted to the PTI.

The writer, a journalist since 1988, has worked for several newspapers. He last served as a senior reporter at The News, Lahore, where he covered the religious parties, jihadi groups, judiciary, politics, among other beats