ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s electoral body on Thursday notified 39 MNAs as lawmakers of the jailed former premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in line with the Supreme Court’s verdict on reserved seats.
“The following returned candidates against general seats of National Assembly are declared to have been returned as candidates of PTI,” said the official handout that also contained the names of lawmakers.
These 39 out of the 80 MNAs backed by PTI, are shown by the Election Commission of Pakistan as PTI candidates.
The decision was made during a session chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja today.
Last week, the ECP had resolved to implement the apex court’s decision after determining that the 39 MNAs had declared their affiliation with PTI in their nomination papers.
An ECP spokesperson clarified that the commission had accurately interpreted the Supreme Court’s verdict and had not validated PTI’s intra-party elections. The commission ruled that the PTI’s intra-party elections were not conducted in accordance with the law, thus candidates who submitted nomination papers without a party ticket and declaration could not be recognized as PTI candidates.
Supreme Court Verdict
A 13-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, delivered an 8-5 majority verdict granting PTI eligibility for allocation of reserved seats, as a result of which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition lost a two-third majority in the National Assembly, the lower court of the Pakistani’s bicameral parliament. Despite an 8-5 split, all 13 judges declared the PTI a parliamentary party.
The majority judgement explained that the rest of the 41 PTI-backed independents would have to file duly signed and notarised statements before the ECP within 15 days, explaining that they contested the February 8 general elections as a candidate of a particular political party.
Despite all 41 independent MNAs submitting their affidavits to the ECP that they are lawmakers of the PTI, the commission, however, only notified 39 MNAs who were declared as PTI lawmakers had mentioned their affiliation with the party in their nomination papers,
The ECP said that it was necessary for the candidates to submit a party ticket and declaration to the returning officer concerned, which was not done and it was not possible for the returning officers to declare them a PTI candidate in such a situation.
“The 41 candidates who have been declared independent had neither mentioned PTI in their nomination papers nor disclosed their affiliation with the party. And also did not submit any party ticket. Therefore, the returning officers allowed them to participate in the election as independent candidates,” the ECP had explained.
The 39 MNAs are Arbab Amir Ayub, Amjad Ali Khan, Anwar Taj, Ali Afzal Sahi, Awais Haider Jakhar, Ali Khan Jadoon, Asad Qaiser, Changaze Ahmad Khan, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Junaid Akbar, Muhammad Ali Sarfraz, Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, Mehboob Shah, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Mumtaz Mustafa, Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi, Muhammad Bashir Khan, Mujahid Ali, Nisar Ahmed, Nasim Ali Shah, Rana Muhammad Faraz Noon, Rana Atif, Rai Haider Ali Khan, Shahram Khan, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Saleem Rehman, Sohail Sultan, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa, Sher Ali Arbab, Asif Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Shahid Khan, Sher Afzal Khan, Shafqat Abbas, Khurram Shahzad Virk, Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, Usama Ahmed Mela, Umber Majeed, and Zartaj Gul.
Reserved Seats Issue
The reserved seats controversy arose when over 80 PTI-backed independent candidates won in the February 8 elections.
The SIC approached the ECP on February 21 seeking allocation of reserved seats, but the electoral body, citing PTI’s failure to submit a candidate list, denied the request in a 4-1 majority decision on March 4.
The ECP subsequently allocated reserved seats for women and minorities to other political parties.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, one reserved seat each was allocated to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as per the notification.
In the Sindh Assembly, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP received reserved seats for women, with Samita Afzal of PPP and Fouzia Hameed of MQM-P elected.
The PHC’s decision allowed the ruling coalition, including PML-N, PPP, and allies, to secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, increasing PML-N’s seats to 123 and PPP’s to 73, while the SIC maintained 82 seats.
