Despite SC clarification, party position changed in NA

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Secretariat has issued its revised party position list in the lower house of parliament, reflecting each political party’s standing, excluding the disputed reserved seats.

The list — issued by the electoral body on September 18 i.e., prior to the Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the Supreme Court’s July 12 verdict — did not include the 15 reserved seats given to the Pakistan Muslim-League Nawaz (PMLN), and the five and three seats given to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF).

The development comes a day after NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, in his letter to the ECP, termed the top court’s ruling “incapable of implementation” after the amendments to the Elections Act 2017.

The letter referred to the apex court’s decision which declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats, essentially paving the way for the resurrection of the Imran Khan-founded party in the assemblies.

Following the decision, the electoral body had notified 93 lawmakers as belonging to the PTI in various legislatures.

However, the incumbent ruling coalition then bulldozed the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 and Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the NA and the Senate on August 6, respectively and the legislation came into force with President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent on August 9.

In his letter to the ECP, Ayaz Sadiq underscored two “particular provisions” — amendments to Section 66 and Section 104-A, which he said, were relevant for the Election Commission’s consideration.

In its amendment to Section 66 of the Elections Act, the bill says that if a candidate does not submit a declaration of his affiliation with a political party to the returning officer (RO) before seeking allotment of the election symbol, they shall be “deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party”.

Meanwhile, the amendment to Section 104 reads that the declaration, consent or affidavit, by whatever name called, of an independent returned candidate once given for joining a political party shall be irrevocable and cannot be substituted or withdrawn.

Furthermore, the letter pointed out Section 1 (2) of the Amended Election Act, which states that the said amendments will have a retrospective effect from 2017 when the Election Act 2017 was passed.

The new party position issued by the NA secretariat on September 18, shows a total of 213 lawmakers on treasury benches including PMLN’s 110 MNAs, PPP (69); Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (22), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (5); Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (4) and one lawmaker each from Pakistan Muslim League Zia, Balochistan Awami Party and National Party.

Meanwhile, the opposition benches include 80 Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members along with eight lawmakers of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF).

Eight PTI-backed independent MNAs, along with one lawmaker each from Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal and Wahdat-e-Muslimeen are also part of the opposition.

Whereas, an independent lawmaker sitting in the opposition has joined the PMLN, the NA secretariat said.

The list doesn’t include the 15 reserved seats given to the PMLN along with five and three seats given to the PPP and the JUIF.

The number of members in the National Assembly is 313 — without the 23 reserved seats — and the number will be pushed to 336 once the empty and disputed seats are given to the PTI.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah Friday wrote to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for allocation of reserved seats in their respective houses.

The KP speaker asked the chief election commissioner (CEC) to allot seats reserved for women and minorities to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as per the Supreme Court verdict. The speaker made the demand in a two-page letter. He said he had written the letter as he was the custodian of the house (KP Assembly) and was required to do that.

The speaker said the SC had handed the verdict in an appeal against the Peshawar High Court decision on the issue. He said undue delay was being exhibited on allotment of the seats reserved for women and minorities after the Supreme Court verdict. “The delay in allotment of reserved seats is akin to murder of justice,” he added.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Awais Qadir also sent a letter to the ECP to decide the issue of reserved seats in the assembly while keeping in mind the autonomous status of the provincial legislature. He asked the ECP to decide the issue to uphold the autonomy of the provincial legislature and independence and autonomy of the parliamentary system in the country. The letter mentioned that an amended Elections Act had been implemented in the country. The speaker urged the ECP to uphold the democratic principles and parliamentary supremacy in the country.