ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s top court concluded Friday that the party of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was unduly denied at least 20 reserved seats in parliament, in a significant blow to the country’s fragile coalition government.
The Supreme Court ruling was welcomed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which was previously excluded from a system that gives parties extra seats reserved for women and minorities in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.
While the verdict is a major political victory for Khan, it will not put his party in a position to topple Khan’s government. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifwho took power after a Feb. 8 election that Khan’s allies say was rigged.
Pakistan’s constitution reserves 60 seats for women and 10 for minorities, distributing them to political parties in proportion to the number of seats they win in elections.
The Election Commission of Pakistan barred the PTI from participating as a party, saying it had not properly chosen its candidates through internal elections and forcing its candidates to run as independents. The Supreme Court rejected this decision, saying that a political party could not be deprived of its reserved seats.
Sharif was elected prime minister by the National Assembly in March, with 201 votes in a Chamber of 336 deputies. The expectation is that the PTI will obtain at least 20 more seats after the decision, adding to the 86 it currently holds.
Khan is currently in prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, following convictions in several cases.
