ISLAMABAD - The unpredicted apex court verdict on reserved seats, with its far reaching impacts, have not only proved a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition in the parliament, but also sent ripples across the political chessboard. The decision is considered a political triumph for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf [PTI], after a long time, as it has turned the party into a single largest group in the National Assembly and also snatched the two-thirds majority from the ruling clique. The numerical strength in the parliament, after the Supreme Court’s decision, reveals that the current ruling coalition has lost a parliamentary luxury of enjoying two-thirds majority rather the PTI has emerged as the biggest party in the lower house of the parliament.
The seats of ruling coalition members will decrease to 210, as in the major setback Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) only has 108 members and its major coalition partner (PPP) decreased to 68. A two-thirds majority in the National Assembly requires 224 members, which the ruling parties are now not enjoying after the verdict. The decision has provided a significant political jump to PTI, as it now has 115 members.
The PTI-supported independent members had formed a parliamentary alliance with Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), making the total number of their members 84, with eight PTI-supported members, bringing the total to 92. Now with the reserved seats, this number will become 115. New members will come from PTI�.