ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court of Pakistan denied Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) any share in parliamentary quotas as the decision marks major political and legal setback for the embattled party, which had earlier been granted access to the seats by the now-overturned verdict.
The ruling ignited firestorm of criticism from PTI leaders, who have described the move as a calculated attack on democratic representation. “This is the darkest chapter in Pakistan’s political history,” a PTI spokesperson said. “What we witnessed today was not just judicial overreach—it was the institutional burial of the people’s mandate.”
Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, convened to hear the review pleas, ruled that since PTI candidates had contested elections as independents following the party’s loss of its electoral symbol, they were not eligible for reserved seats, which are distributed to parties based on proportional representation in the assemblies. The bench concluded that such seats should now be distributed among other parliamentary parties.
PTI vehemently rejected the ruling. Calling it “shameful,” the party claimed the judiciary has aligned itself with the establishment to systematically dismantle PTI’s political influence.
“First, they robbed PTI of its symbol. Then, they robbed us of our reserved seats. And now they’ve handed those seats to the ruling alliance,” senior PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan said. “This is not justice it’s political warfare in judicial robes.”
Other PTI leader took to social media to accuse judiciary of enabling what he called the “slow, surgical execution of democracy,” likening every verdict against PTI to a cut from a scalpel in the hands of those in power.
The party also criticized broader role of state institutions, citing the 26th Constitutional Amendment as a precedent for state engineering. “The establishment reshaped the state through structural amendments. The judiciary watched in silence,” PTI officials stated in a joint release.
Some Journalists also said this decision could further polarise Pakistan’s democratic setup and deepen public mistrust in the electoral process while ruling coalition has welcomed the court’s judgment, calling it a rightful interpretation of the Constitution.
