Imran Khan’s PTI Becomes Largest Party in Pakistan After Supreme Court Ruling

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is now the largest party in Pakistan’s National Assembly. This comes after a Supreme Court ruling declared PTI eligible for reserved seats, overturning a previous decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Initially, PTI candidates were barred from using their party symbol, a cricket bat, due to alleged electoral law violations. As a result, they ran as independents and won 93 seats in the National Assembly. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came second with 75 seats, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secured third place with 54 seats.

The Supreme Court’s decision, delivered by a 13-member bench in an 8-5 ruling, annulled the Peshawar High Court’s ruling and declared the ECP’s decision unconstitutional. PTI members celebrated the decision, with a post from the party’s official X account demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja for violating the Constitution of Pakistan.

PTI leader and former KP finance minister Taimur Khan Jhagra congratulated Imran Khan and PTI supporters, stating, “We are on the right side of history, as difficult as that may be. The fight will go on.”

The issue of reserved seats became prominent after over 80 PTI-backed independent candidates won in the February 8 elections. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) then approached the ECP on February 21 seeking allocation of reserved seats. However, the ECP denied the allocation on March 4, citing PTI’s failure to submit its list of candidates.