LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the Pakistan Election Amendment Act 2024, which bars independent lawmakers from switching parties.
The petitioner, Mushkoor Hussain, represented by advocate Nadeem Sarwar, has named the federal government, the Election Commission, the President, and the Prime Minister as respondents in the case.
The petition argues that the amendments were introduced to overturn a decision made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, labeling these changes as unconstitutional. The petitioner is seeking a declaration from the LHC to nullify the amendments and has also requested a stay order to halt the implementation of the amended Act until the court makes its final decision.
These amendments, signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari, were designed to prevent lawmakers from changing their party affiliation within three days of winning an election. Additionally, the amendments restrict reserved seats from being allocated to parties that did not win a single seat in the election.
The legislation was passed after a controversial ruling by the Supreme Court, which allowed reserved seats to be allocated to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, a decision that posed a significant challenge to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government. The opposition protested against the passage of the bill, with some members tearing up the house agenda in dissent.
