The Election Commission of Pakistan suspended on Monday the Sindh Assembly lawmakers elected on reserved seats, following the Supreme Court verdict that suspended the Peshawar High Court (PHC) judgement to deprive the Sunni Ittehad Council of seats reserved for women and minorities.

According to the notification issued by the ECP, PPP’s Sumita Syed Afzal and Sadhumal Surendar Valasai, and MQM-P leader Musarrat Jabeen are suspended.

On May 7, a three-member SC bench led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said that interim order relates to the disputed seats only, ie the reserved seats allocated over and above the initially allocated reserved seats to the political parties.

“The question of allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies touches upon the foundational constitutional concept of a parliamentary democracy that the voice of the electorate is truly reflected in the composition of the assemblies,” said the order.

On May 6, a three-member SC bench led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said that the interim order relates to the disputed seats only, ie the reserved seats allocated over and above the initially allocated reserved seats to the political parties.

“The question of allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies touches upon the foundational constitutional concept of a parliamentary democracy that the voice of the electorate is truly reflected in the composition of the assemblies,” said the order.

It added that a democratic mandate necessitated that the allocation of reserved seats enhanced the representativeness of the electorate in the assemblies and upheld the principles of fairness and transparency in the electoral process.

Last week, the Punjab Assembly speaker suspended the allocation of reserved seats to them. Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the speaker, read the decision in the House.