Court Grants Party of Imprisoned Former Leader More Seats in Pakistan’s Parliament

Pakistan’s top court ruled on Friday that the party of former prime minister Imran Khan should receive 23 additional seats in Parliament, a decision that is expected to deepen thepolitical turmoil that has embroiled the country since Mr. Khan was ousted from power two years ago.

The ruling strips the governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of its two-thirds majority in Parliament, weakening his already fragile government and emboldening the opposition led by Mr. Khan’s party.

Mr. Sharif’s government came to power five months ago after general elections that were marred by allegations that the country’s powerful military had rigged dozens of races and tipped the scales against Mr. Khan’s party. Pakistan’s generals, who have long been seen as an invisible hand guiding the nation’s politics, have been at odds with Mr. Khan since he was ousted from power in 2022.

But in a stunning rebuke to military leaders, candidates loyal to Mr. Khan won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in the last election — a victory that shattered the military’s once invincible image.

The opposition’s victory reflected the recent swell of discontent with the generals’ influence in politics since Mr. Khan’s ouster, which he accused the military of orchestrating. Those accusations sparked mass protests across the country, challenging the military’s authority like never before. Mr. Khan, a former captain of the country’s popular national cricket team, was imprisoned in August on what he says were trumped up political charges.

Despite winning the majority of seats in Parliament during the last election, Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., was not allotted any of the 70 unelected seats reserved for women and minorities, which are typically handed out in proportion to the number of elected seats a party secures.