High-stakes reserved seats

RESERVED seats for women and non-Muslims in our legislatures have been a long-standing feature of Pakistan’s political system, but they had never brought the state close to constitutional breakdown — until now.

Not only are the three branches of the state bitterly poised against one another, there are visible fissures within each branch as well, most notably the judiciary.

It is unprecedented that three sitting judges of the Supreme Court, including the then-chief justice, should...