Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, challenging the Election Act Amendment Bill that prohibits lawmakers from changing their party affiliation. The petition was submitted by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan through his lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, urging the court to invalidate the amendment.
The bill was passed by the National Assembly a day earlier, amending the Elections Act of 2017 to prevent lawmakers from switching party affiliations. It was introduced by PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani and approved by the NA Parliamentary Affairs Committee with a vote of eight members in favor, four opposing, and one abstention from Shahid Akhtar of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F).
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If enacted, the legislation will bar individuals who ran as independent candidates in the general election from later affiliating with any political party. This move aims to counteract the return of PTI to Parliament following a Supreme Court ruling on July 12 that allowed the Imran Khan-led party eligibility for reserved seats.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recognized 93 lawmakers from three provincial assemblies as PTI members—29 from Punjab, 58 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and six from Sindh. Additionally, 39 National Assembly members who listed PTI affiliation in their nomination papers have been confirmed as PTI members by the ECP.
