ISLAMABAD Due to previous precedent set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which is currently home to the independent candidates backed by the PTI who won the general election, may receive its fair share of designated seats in the national and provincial assemblies, a senior official told Dawn.
Today (Monday), Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja will preside over a critical ECP meeting to determine the quota for reserved seats.
Since it is reportedly the “bone of contention” on which President Arif Alvi has postponed calling a special session of the National Assembly, the issue has taken on significant importance.
According to a senior ECP official who spoke with Dawn, the council is “set to get its share of reserved seats” because of a previous instance in which candidates for the reserved seats were found to have been successful when their lists were submitted after the ECP deadline had passed.
With the addition of 23 reserved seats for women and minorities, the SIC will have 104 members in the National Assembly.
Of the 226 allocated seats for women in the national and provincial assemblies, the ECP has withheld 78 of them thus far. Following ECP’s judgment, SIC will receive these seats.
A few independents supported by the PTI have yet to join the party in order to run in their internal elections.
Previous precedent
Dawn was informed by the ECP source that the commission is aware of the 21-day window in which the NA session must be called following the general elections.
He further stated that the deadline will not pass because, according to the legislation, all assemblies must begin their first sessions by February 29 at the latest.
The source stated that even if a decision is not made tonight, a meeting would be scheduled on Tuesday to address the issue of reserved seats. The commission’s law wing will brief the meeting on the subject.
In response to a question on the distribution of reserved tickets to SIC, the official stated, “I do not see a problem.”
In support of his position, he cited a 2018 Lahore High Court ruling. The court ruled that a party’s reserved seat quota could not be transferred.
The topic was brought up following the LHC hearing since PTI neglected to submit the list of reserved seats for minorities in Punjab.
The matter was brought before the court after the returning officer declined to accept PTI’s lists of candidates for the seats held by women and minorities since the names of the candidates had not been submitted for one day.
Additionally, there is precedence in the KP Assembly when the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) secured a reserved seat for women following the initial post-merger elections in the former Fata.
Although the party did not run in the province’s election, independents joined and gave the BAP a reserved seat for women.
ECP has so far given 40 of the 60 allocated seats for women in the National Assembly to various political parties.
These comprise all 14 of Sindh, all 4 of Balochistan, two of KP, 20 of Punjab, and 10 of KP.
Additionally, seven of the ten seats set aside for minorities have been assigned.
Eight of the nine seats in the Sindh Assembly are designated for minorities, and 27 of the 29 seats are set aside for women.
In the KP legislature, five of the 26 seats designated for women and one of the four seats designated for minorities have been assigned. All eleven of the seats allotted for women and three for minorities in the Balochistan Assembly have been assigned.
