Responding to a letter previously issued by Gohar, the ECP noted that he had requested formal acknowledgment of independent senators aligning themselves with PTI. The commission said the matter could not be entertained because the party’s intra-party election case remains pending, and a stay order issued by the Lahore High Court is still in effect.
According to the commission, PTI’s internal elections have not been validated, and therefore Barrister Gohar cannot be recognised as the party’s leader.
The dispute traces back to January 13, 2024, when a three-member Supreme Court bench upheld the ECP’s December 22, 2023, decision declaring PTI’s intra-party polls null and void. As a result, PTI candidates were forced to contest the February 8 general elections as independents.
Eighty of these independent candidates entered the National Assembly and subsequently joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in an attempt to secure reserved seats for women and minorities. The ECP, however, rejected the allocation, prompting the SIC to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
On July 12, 2024, an eight-member majority of a full Supreme Court bench restored PTI’s status as a parliamentary party, noting that 39 lawmakers had already submitted certificates proving their affiliation with PTI when filing their nomination papers. The court allowed the remaining 41 lawmakers, who had not submitted such certificates earlier, to provide them within 15 days.
The ruling coalition later filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s decision, which was taken up by the Constitutional Bench in May.
