The Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) restored on Wednesday all the seats reserved in the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies, in line with the recent decision of the Supreme Court.
According to a notification issued by the ECP, the Commission has restored a total of 74 seats reserved:
The movement effectively annuls previous notifications that had unstarted candidates chosen in the Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) ticket. The ECP has withdrawn its previous notifications dated July 24 and 29, 2024.
The decision is produced with the ruling of June 27, 2025 of the Supreme Court, which addressed the review requests related to the allocation of reserved seats.
As a result, the previous cancellation of the yields of PTI candidates in the reserved seats has become zero.
SC cancels the PTI claim for reserved seats
The Supreme Court revoked a 2024 judgment that had allowed PTI to claim seats reserved in national and provincial legislatures.
Read: PTI loses the judicial battle for the reserved seats
The order issued by a constitutional bank of 10 members allowed multiple review requests presented by the ruling coalition and dismissed its previous decision that PTI had recognized, through its alliance with the Sunita Ittehad (sic) Council, as eligible for reserved seats.
With most of the seven judges, the Superior Court ruled in favor of the review, effectively annuling the verdict of July 12, July 2024. That trial had previously restored the state of PTI as a parliamentary part and ordered the ECP to assign seats reserved for women and minorities.
After the new decision, almost 80 seats reserved in national and provincial assemblies will be reassigned among other parliamentary parts, excluding the SIC. The measure gives the ruling coalition a two -thirds majority in Parliament.
Judge Salahuddin Panhwar withdrew from the case, while Judges Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi had dismissed the review requests at the beginning of the hearings. Judge Jamal Commandkhail partially accepted the requests, maintaining SIC’s claim in 39 seats but reversing the award of another 41. Two more judges requested a new review of the ECP of the affiliations of the 80 candidates.
The court order did not explain how the seats would be distributed now or would provide detailed reasoning, which is expected later.
PTI had previously lost its electoral symbol due to a dispute over intraparticle surveys, forcing most of its candidates to play the general elections of February as independent. After the surveys, SIC joined in an attempt to claim reserved seats, a movement rejected by the ECP and now confirmed by the court.
The ruling 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 in all forums.
