RESERVED seats for women and non-Muslims in our legislatures have been a long-standing feature of Pakistan’s political system, but they had never brought the state close to constitutional breakdown — until now. Not only are the three branches of the state bitterly poised against one another, there are visible fissures within each branch as well, most notably the judiciary.

It is unprecedented that three sitting judges of the Supreme Court, including the then-chief justice, should openly call the July 12 majority order passed by the full court, unconstitutional, besides declaring it non-binding on the executive and constitutional institutions: read ECP.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has not fully implemented the majority court order, despite repeated court warnings. Parliament has passed the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024, to neutralise the order and the speakers of the National Assembly and assemblies in Punjab and Sindh have written letters to the ECP to defy it and distribute the remaining reserved seats among the PML-N, PPP and JUI-P as originally decided by the ECP in its order of March 4, which was upheld by the Peshawar High Court some days later.

At stake are 77 reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the National Assembly and three provincial assemblies out of a total of 226 such seats. The remaining 149 seats have already been distributed to various political parties in proportion to their general seats in the respective assemblies.

The July 12 order is very much a legitimate Supreme Court order. On the other hand, the Elections........

© Dawn