Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected a petition from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Monday, which sought reserved seats following a purported merger with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for this purpose. The request, submitted by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza through a PTI representative, asked the ECP to allocate seats based on the inclusion of PTI-backed candidates in their party.
After hearing arguments, the commission had reserved its verdict on Wednesday, a day before the inaugural session of the National Assembly. In its decision, the ECP announced that PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council was not eligible for reserved seats designated for women and minorities.
The split decision, with a 4-1 majority under Clause 6 of Article 53 of the Constitution and Section 104 of the Election Act, saw ECP Punjab member Hassan Bharwana dissenting from the majority verdict. The ECP stated in its ruling that the SIC could not claim a quota for reserved seats due to "non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party lists for reserved seats, as required by law."
According to the verdict, seats in the National Assembly would not remain vacant and would be allotted through proportional representation of political parties based on seats won in the general elections. Citing Article 51(6) of the Constitution, the ECP said reserved seats would be allocated to political parties that contested elections and won general seats using the proportional representation system.
The ECP noted that the share of each political party would be determined with reference to the total number of general seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies. This formula also applied to reserved seats for non-Muslims.
During the elections, PTI candidates ran as independents after the Supreme Court deemed its intra-party polls "unconstitutional" and revoked its claim on the electoral symbol of 'bat'. As per the Constitution, reserved seats are allocated to political parties based on the number of lawmakers elected on general seats. The ECP had already received priority lists of candidates from parties before the February 8 polls.
The current situation differs from previous elections as the largest group of lawmakers are independents, who cannot have reserved seats. There are a total of 346 reserved seats for women – 60 in the National Assembly and varying numbers in provincial legislatures. Similarly, there are 10 reserved seats for minorities in the lower house and additional reserved seats in provincial assemblies.
In its letter, the Sunni Ittehad Council stated that 86 independent candidates of the National Assembly, 107 independents of the Punjab Assembly, 90 of the K-P Assembly, and nine independent members of the Sindh Assembly now supported the SIC.
