- Development comes day after speaker wrote to ECP, declaring his inability to implement SC reserved seats verdict
- List defies apex court July 12 decision, ECP’s earlier notification
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Secretariat on Friday annihilated the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in its updated list party positions in the Parliament’s Lower House on the basis of Election Amendment Act, showing 80 PTI MNAs as part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
According to a National Assembly Secretariat notification, “All 80 members of the PTI are members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).” Earlier, on the orders of the Supreme Court, 39 parliamentarians have been declared as members of the PTI and 41 of the SIC.
It may be noted that a day ago, the National Assembly speaker wrote a letter to the Election Commission (ECP) giving reference to the Election Amendment Act. The assembly secretariat acted in haste without waiting for the ECP reply and issued a new party position.
In July, the apex court declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies and The SC dealt a further major blow to the PML-N-led coalition government on Saturday, as it reprimanded the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not implementing its July 12 judgement, further complicating the Shehbaz Sharif-led administration’s efforts to secure the required numbers to pass a controversial Constitutional Package related to the judiciary.
The SC clarified that as per the position, 41 returned candidates, out of a total of 80 MNAs, would remain members of the PTI and, consequently, members of the PTI’s parliamentary party in both the national and provincial assemblies, for all constitutional and legal purposes. The ECP had already notified 39 of the lawmakers as PTI MNAs but was undecided on the remaining 41.
The list from the NA Secretariat issued on September 18 (Wednesday), reflects the “actual party position” after the July 12 verdict showed the 80 MNAs to be part of the SIC.
The list showed eight seats for PTI-backed independents. It said that there were a total of 336 seats in the NA with 313 lawmakers and 23 vacant or disputed seats that were to be allocated to the PTI.
The disputed seats were originally allotted to the PML-N, PPP, and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) after the ECP ruling in March that the SIC was not entitled to claim reserved seats.
Meanwhile, the positions for the other parties are as follows: PML-N (110), PPP (69), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (22), JUI-F (8), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (5), Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (4) and one each for the Pakistan Muslim League-Zia, Balochistan Awami Party, National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Balochistan National Party-Mengal and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen.
The list by the NA Secretariat surfaced a day after NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq wrote a letter to the ECP, stating that the judgment on reserved seats “cannot be implemented under the Amended Election Act, 2017”.
Sadiq had urged the body to honour laws made by parliament, insisting that the amended Elections Act prevents independent lawmakers from switching parties.
He had alleged that the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling enabled a candidate to switch political parties and argued that this went against the amended Elections Act, which he said now has overriding authority.
The ECP has remained undecided on the implementation of SC’s verdict and held a meeting to deliberate on the apex court’s judgment and its September 14 order in response to the clarification sought by the commission, sources had told Dawn.
It will be interesting that in case of implementation of the Election Act, 23 reserved seats will be distributed among the PML-N, the PPP and the JUI-F.
Keeping in mind the number of elected members, 15 reserved seats will be given to the PML-N, five to the PPP and three to the JUI-F.
